Today was St. George’s Day at the Cathedral Domain. Mary Swinford was confirmed by Bishop Hahn and is our newest member of the parish. Enjoy the photos and be sure to welcome her when you see her!
Bruce Cory read the Scripture at the Service
St. George’s Cathedral
Bishop Hahn lays hands on Mary to confirm her.
Bishop Hahn confirming Mary
Group photo. There was one baptism, confirmations and receptions.
There was a baptism, confirmations and receptions.
Diocesan Centennial Quilt
You will show me the path of life; *
in your presence there is fullness of joy,
and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore. Psalm 16:11
The Psalms are so wonderful. They truly cover the range of our emotions and feelings about and towards God. They are also hopeful, saying with assurance what God will do.
What is your path of life? Often in job interviews you will be asked where you want to be 5 years from now, as if we are the sole designers of our path of life. Yes, it’s good to have goals. It’s good to dream and think about where we’d like to be. It’s good to understand that things don’t happen overnight and sometimes take time and patience. However, we need to hold on to our plans lightly, remembering that ultimately God is at work, showing us the path of life…a path of “fullness of joy” and “pleasures for evermore.”
I know five years ago, being ordained an Episcopal Priest and serving in Kentucky was fuzzy at best. Five years ago, did you imagine you’d be where you are today? We are confident, because we know God is showing us the “path of life.”
Blessings as you finish your week.
Love, Rebecca
My Schedule
Next week, I will be in Lexington and then traveling to Pennsylvania May 1-4. You can get a message to me by calling 859 -429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.
Adult Forum resumes with a 7-week Easter series on Resurrection Living, using a Forward Movement pamphlet by Christine McSpaden. Mary Swinford will lead the first session on Luke 24:5, Why do you look for the living among the dead?
Belk Charity Sales Day, Saturday, May 3, 6:00-10:00am. Purchase $5 tickets from our ECW, which allow you entrance to the sale and $5 off your purchase. We are trying to sell 100 tickets, which provides $500 for the church and tremendous savings for you!
We’re buying goats! The Lazarus at the Gates Adult Forum study has prompted us to purchase goats through Episcopal Relief and Development for families in the Philippines. Goats provide milk, cheese, and manure for farming. Donations towards the $80 purchase of each goat can be made through the goat bank in the parish hall or in the offering plate clearly marked ERD goat project.
Grow Appalachia! We are considering whether to become a partner with Grow Appalachia. David Cooke gave a presentation on April 16. We would use part of the park to provide gardening plots for people in our community. We could also support people in our area who want to garden in their yards. We would host classes regarding gardening, as well as ways to preserve the harvest. Grow Appalachia provides almost anything needed to make these gardens successful. Talk to someone who attended the presentation. And talk to the Vestry about your ideas, questions, and concerns. Their website is http://www.berea.edu/grow-appalachia/
This Sunday is our monthly pot luck! All are welcome! Plan to fellowship with each other.
United Thank Offering (UTO) is a ministry of the Episcopal Church for the mission of the whole church. Our ingathering of your UTO offerings will be Sunday, May 11. Remember to bring your offering that day AND to pick up another box for the fall ingathering.
Wedding Shower and lunch for Amber Pearce and Billy Hibbitts, Sunday, May 11, after the service. Plan to join the festivities after church! All are welcome.
Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.
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.
Sermon – April 20, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
Easter Day
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. John 20:16-17
One of my great joys in becoming a grandmother is the ability to travel with my grandchildren. When my grandson Logan was 18 months old, I brought him to my home in Maryland for one night. This required great preparation, because his mother was not sure this was such a great idea. I promised that if he had any trouble being away from home, I would get in my car at any time of the night and drive the 100 miles to bring him home. We had so much fun, going to the National Zoo. He was never homesick.
When Logan was 4, I decided to take him on a 3-day trip to Syracuse, New York, about 300 miles away. My mother was from that area and I have fond memories of going to visit my grandparents and my mother’s extended family every summer. While I knew my grandson would not have the same experience as me, I wanted to show him around…see these things through new eyes. And my good, longtime friend of over 30 years lives there and I wanted her to meet Logan. My granddaughter was just a little too young to go, I reasoned, and I also wasn’t sure I could travel with both of them, so the plan was to take Logan.
He was so excited. He had a new outfit for our trip. In addition to his suitcase, he had a backpack filled with his precious toy cars, some books and a stuffed animal or two. I told him I was going to take him to a big lake, where you couldn’t even see to the other shore and he said, “Grandma, I’m just little. Can’t you take me to a little lake?” I could tell this grandson of mine loved a new adventure. Yet, he was well aware that his mother would miss him tremendously. She had told him she’d do the “happy dance” when he returned home. A couple of times before we left, he made sure to assure her. He would be talking excitedly about what we planned to do. Then he’d stop and say, “Mommy, I know you’ll miss me. And when I come home, you’ll do the happy dance.”
My grandson was never homesick on our trip. He loved every minute of it. At one point he even said he didn’t want to go home! But when we drove up to his house, he was so excited and he and his mother did a wonderful happy dance together.
And that’s what we see Mary doing in the garden. Can’t you just imagine her happy run to embrace Jesus? And what did she look like as she ran to tell the others she had seen Jesus? After witnessing Jesus’ terrible death and then arriving at the tomb to find his body gone. She was distressed and scared. Then to see him risen! She rushes to him.
More recently, Pharrell Williams has caught the world’s attention with his song “Happy.” Originally the closing song of last summer’s animated film, Despicable Me II, with the funny and loveable minions, the video came out in November.
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
It’s a catchy tune. The original video has 191 million views. And people around the world have created their own videos. From Hong Kong to Algeria to soldiers in Afghanistan, school children and people of all ages. All dancing and saying, “happiness is the truth.” It has become a kind of protest song for freedom, even. People in Ukraine made a video as part of their protest and overthrow of the corrupt government there. We in this country can relate to that since one of our founding documents, The Declaration of Independence, talks about the inalienable rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
And today is the happiest of days in our Christian faith. Jesus rose from the dead. No power on earth could keep him in the tomb. He rose and is with us always.
Yet, our Christian happiness is different from those fleeting moments when we feel excited or in a good mood. That’s the beauty of this day and of our Christianity. Happiness is deeper. The happiness we have is with us always. It is the knowing deep inside that Christ is risen…that Christ is with us…that nothing can keep us down.
Yes, we have our trials. We have our days when we’re not feeling so strong emotionally or physically. Some of us are often depressed. We may not look happy on the outside. That’s not what it’s about. Our happiness comes from the knowledge and faith that we have a lifeline of hope – the sure and certain knowledge that God raised Jesus…death was destroyed. There is always resurrection. There is always new life and new birth.
And on those days when that happiness is hard for us to embody…when it’s buried somewhere deep inside and we just can’t tap into it…we have each other… the whole Christian community. Every minute of the day someone is praying for us. We have this community of St. John’s Episcopal Church right here and right now. Don’t you often find yourself thinking of your brothers and sisters from church during the week? Or at least over a couple of weeks? Those little prayers…that’s the lifeline of hope…that’s the link to deep happiness.
Mary runs to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” she announces. Her weeping turns into happiness. Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed!
Amen
Sermon – April 18, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
Good Friday
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. …. So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him…. John 19:1-2, 16-18
I’ll never forget the day and you probably won’t either. I had a terrible feeling as I left my apartment that day on my way to work. I worked nearby and had an upcoming board meeting. It was the first board meeting with the new board members. It was a 2-day meeting with orientation, dinner, and business. And it was my 4th year of organizing this meeting, so I was an “old pro,” as the saying goes. Yet, I felt so uneasy.
I was absorbed in my work, when a staff member came to tell me a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. We went to the board room and turned on the TV, only to see smoke pouring from a building in Washington DC. We were 3 hours from New York City and 2 hours from DC. I had visited both cities many times. My brother lived in New York and you could see the Towers from his apartment building. My daughter was living on Long Island. My children and I had visited those Towers many times over the years. It was one of our favorite destinations in New York. And that tragedy of that day midst a beautiful, sunny September continued to unfold. Such terrifying violence that dramatically changed our lives.
The days and weeks ahead were filled not only with grief and fear and responding to disaster, but also with how we would respond. Personally, I thought about violence in the world and ways in which I had participated in violence against other people. That’s what Good Friday asks of us…to look deep within our hearts and see where we have inflicted violence on others. Where have I inflicted harm? Where have I been forcibly vehement?
It’s much easier to look at a nation or at others to see how they are violent. It’s much easier to be the victim of violence in some respects. But to look squarely at ourselves and to see where we have crucified Jesus…where we have been part of the mob or even a mob of one…is much harder.
I catch myself rushing through the grocery store, intent on the things I need…acknowledging no other human being, but being only exasperated when they are in my way. Truly, most of us want to be seen…to be acknowledged as human beings…and this rushing to accomplish my agenda, whether it’s in the store, or in an email, does not see the other person, which is a violent act.
I get frustrated with customer service and before I know it, I’m yelling. I do try to remember the people answering the phones did not create the systems or processes that are causing me trouble. I work hard to be firm, yet kind. And sometimes I can no longer do it and I’m saying all sorts of things.
I once saw a demonstration about the violence of words. A woman running a workshop I attended picked the biggest, strongest person out of the group. She had him hold his arms out and tried to push them down. She could not do it. Then she spent 5-10 minutes saying terrible things to him…how he was weak and couldn’t do anything. When he held out his arms again, she easily pushed them down.
Yet in our inherent self-centeredness, whether as individuals or as a community, we obsess about who has treated us wrong and who has treated us unjustly. We plot how to get revenge. Some of this is out of fear that we will be hurt. In truth, in our fear and self-centeredness, we have shut out the voice of God.
And here comes Jesus on this most violent of days…dying in the most violent of ways and he shows us the power of nonviolence. He barely speaks during his trial. He forgives the people who are harming him. He takes care of his mother. He hangs in pain on that cross…enduring an agonizing death. He does not respond with violence. He does not respond with revenge. He does not create a feud that will go on forever. He loves.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a strong advocate of nonviolence. He said many things about it, but here’s one from his book, Stride Toward Freedom,
Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers. Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Towards Freedom
At the National Prayer Service on September 14, 2001, then Dean, Now Bishop Nathan Baxter said, Let us pray that as we act, we not become the evil we deplore. Representative Barbara Lee from California heard those words and took her faith seriously. She stood on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and was the only member of Congress to vote against going to war as a response to the tragedy. While others also felt the resolution was flawed, they were too afraid to speak up. Violent revenge was the only response many of us could see. While ultimately war might have needed to occur, both Dean Baxter and Representative Lee were telling us to wait.
In Romans 12:17-21 Paul reminds us of Jesus teaching: 17Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God;* for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ 20No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Today is the day we bend the knee of our heart and examine where we have been violent and where we have participated in violence. It is the day to recommit ourselves to the love of God through the witness of the nonviolent Jesus Christ, hanging on that cross.
Amen
Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. Acts 10:34-35
This Sunday is the highlight of our religious year. Despite our attempts to silence Jesus and keep him in the tomb, he rises to live forever. What a joy to hear the words of Peter: God is not partial. God is for everyone. Any person who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to God. Simple words and not always easy to live by. Yet, blessed words, because we must only be the best God created us to be. We don’t have to live up to what anyone else thinks. God loves us all.
Blessings during this Holiest of Weeks….
Love, Rebecca
Good Friday Service – Eucharist from the Reserve Sacrament and Adoration of the Cross, 7:00pm
Holy Saturday – 1:00pm
Decorate the Church for Easter – 1:00-3:00pm
Easter Vigil – 8:00pm; followed by Champagne and Chocolate reception
Easter Day
10:00am – Brunch – bring your favorite dish to Share; Godly Play for the children
11:00am – Service with Communion
Egg hunt after church
Rebecca’s Schedule: Next week, Rebecca will be in Corbin on Thursday, April 24, and her Sabbath day will be Friday, April 25. You can reach to Rebecca by calling 859 -429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.
Flowers for the altar: The flowers on the Altar are given to the glory of God and to the memory of Mr. & Mrs. George M. Golden, Mrs. R. Hollifield George, Thomas R. Hollifield, Mrs Jacqueline Golden Cooper and Mr. & Mrs. Coy Hart by Mr & Mrs. Jerry Hollifield. Easter flowers are also given in memory of John & Elizabeth by Sue Weedman, in memory of Robert & Mary Ann Myers by the Rev. Rebecca Myers, in memory of Keith Snider by the Swinford family, in memory of Anne & Lamar Jones and Pat & Cecil Davis by Anne Day and Jeff David, by Mrs. Thalia Harris and in memory of William R. & E. Irene Fink by Bruce W. Cory.
Easter Egg Hunt There will be an Easter Egg Hunt for the children after the service on Easter.
Pot Luck Sunday: Next Sunday, April 27, is our monthly pot luck. Bring a dish or drink to share. And all are welcome! Plan to fellowship with each other.
Adult Forum: Adult Forum will resume next week with a 7-week Easter series on Resurrection Living, using a Forward Movement pamphlet by Christine McSpaden. Mary Swinford will lead the first session on Luke 24:5, Why do you look for the living among the dead?
St. George’s Day, Saturday, April 26, Cathedral Domain. Mary Swinford will be confirmed at the 3pm service. Spend the weekend or come for the day. Reservations for overnight must be received by April 18. Meals are included in the overnight stay or can be purchased separately if you are coming for the day. You are also welcome to bring your own food and have a picnic on the grounds. http://www.cathedraldomain.org/stgeorge2014.html
Belk Charity Sales Day: The Belk Charity Sales Day will be Saturday, May 3rd from 6:00am to 10:00am. Ticket may be purchased for $5 tickets from our ECW, which allow you entrance to the sale and $5 off your purchase. We are trying to sell 100 tickets, which provides $500 for the church and tremendous savings for you!
We’re buying goats! The Lazarus at the Gates Adult Forum study has prompted us to purchase goats through Episcopal Relief and Development for families in the Philippines. Goats provide milk, cheese, and manure for farming. Donations towards the $80 purchase of each goat can be made through the goat bank in the parish hall or in the offering plate clearly marked ERD goat project.
United Thank Offering (UTO) is a ministry of the Episcopal Church for the mission of the whole church. Our ingathering of your UTO offerings will be Sunday, May 11. Remember to bring your offering that day AND to pick up another box for the fall ingathering.
Sermon – April 17, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
Maundy Thursday
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35
My mother’s parents lived 300 miles away from us. They came to visit us at least once or maybe twice throughout the year. Once each year, usually in the summer, we’d travel to see them. Sometimes we took the Greyhound bus, which was a LONG trip. Other times we drove. The standard dinner on the night we arrived was spaghetti with meatballs. The sauce would have cooked all day. How my grandmother never burnt that sauce, making it on an electric stove, I’ll never know. I cheat and make it in a crockpot. The sauce was very simple – tomatoes and tomato paste. There weren’t a lot of spices, but there was a secret ingredient that was never written down in the recipe and that I learned only when I actually watched my grandmother make the sauce…it was baking soda – just a tiny bit to neutralize the acid in the sauce.
The meatballs were wonderful with parsley and romano cheese and a little egg in them. They were individually fried in olive oil and added to the sauce. The meal included additional freshly grated cheese, as well as a loaf of my grandfather’s homemade Italian bread, baked early in the morning.
The table would be set with a clean, white table cloth – can you imagine kids and spaghetti sauce and a clean white tablecloth? My grandmother had the whitest whites you can imagine.
Spaghetti and meatballs was the dinner of love…the dinner of welcome. That’s probably why my favorite thing to do on a Sunday evening when I’m in Lexington is go to Joe Bologna’s and get their “all you can eat” spaghetti. It’s the closest I’ve found to the taste of my grandmother’s food. It reminds me of her immense love for her family and her joy in seeing us and welcoming us to her home.
This evening, we hear about Jesus taking a ritual, annual meal and giving it new meaning. Jesus takes simple parts of the meal – bread and wine – elements included in the most basic of meals, and infuses new symbolism in them. These elements represent the ultimate love of God for all people – Jesus’ body and blood…the very essence of life… given to save us…given out of deep love for us.
Whenever we see these common elements, we are reminded of Jesus’ love for us. When we gather together in Jesus’ name, bless and make these common elements holy, Jesus is present, binding us together into one.
A document and teaching of the early church, possibly as early as 150 years after the death of Christ, says this: As this broken bread was scattered upon the mountains and being gathered together became one, so may Thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom;(Didache 9.8, http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-lightfoot.html)
The meal…this simple meal of bread and wine, has bound us and all those before us, to that first meal in that upper room in Jerusalem. It binds us in community to each other and to Christ, just as it bound the disciples to Christ. It reminds us that the everliving Christ is right here in our midst and nothing can separate us from the love of God. It reminds us to be Christ to the world, to love one another like Christ has loved us, so all will know we are Jesus’ disciples.
Amen
Sermon – April 13, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday
My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want. Matthew 26:39
Please be seated.
One of the most challenging things in my life occurred when my father was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease. The disease is a neurological disorder that attacks the brain. Over 10-20 years, the person continues to lose body functions. It is especially noticeable in the beginning with lack of balance in walking and jerkiness of movement in the arms and legs. There is no cure. So, once my father was diagnosed at the age of 68, I knew I would watch the slow decline towards death.
Eight years after his diagnosis, I wrote this poem:
Huntington’s
By Rebecca Myers
4/11/08
It’s in the little things
Now you have called me
Because you cannot remember
Your ATM PIN number
I knew some of what was coming with my father, because his mother had died of the disease also. I was my father’s daughter and had told him when I was just a child that I would take care of him. When my father was diagnosed, I prepared myself for the task of caring for him. Now, I was extremely fortunate, because my father, who was a lawyer and judge, took great care in planning for he and for my mother’s care. They decided they’d go into a nursing home and chose the place they’d go. They had the resources to pay for this care and to provide some extra care in addition. For the most part, my role was making sure everything got paid.
While a recurrence of kidney cancer ultimately caused his death ten years after his diagnosis in January of 2011, the quality of his life was dramatically altered by the Huntington’s at that time. I could not have a conversation with him. Any questions I asked had to require only a yes/no or one-word response. In some ways, we were blessed by not having to watch the toll of the Huntington’s disease.
Yet, as I remember all of this, I am acutely aware that somewhere lurking deeply was the prayer that a cure would be found to help my father. I had to settle for the newer medications that controlled the involuntary movements, so I was spared seeing my father become like his mother, my grandmother, who literally shook to death.
And my involvement with this disease is not over. My father’s sister had the disease and died last year and my younger brother is dying from the disease now, in a nursing home in Northwest Pennsylvania. While my youngest brother and I will not get the disease – we’ve been tested – and none of my children or descendants will get the disease, there are a number of people in my family who have not been tested.
How I would have given anything to have this inevitable outcome for my father removed.
Not only in our Gospel today, but in the passages immediately preceding, Jesus makes it clear he knows what’s coming. The outcome is inevitable. In Luke, it says, he set his face to go to Jerusalem…. (Luke 9:51) There is no turning back…no changing what is to come.
While I have my particular stories, haven’t there been times in your life when you know something hard, difficult and challenging is coming? I think Jesus provides us with ways to face the inevitable difficult times. What does Jesus do?
One thing we know about this life…the hard, difficult times will come. And sometimes we surely see them coming and can do nothing to stop them. You may see other things in how Jesus lived during these last days that will help you during those times. Prayer, community and trusting in God may not stop the inevitable; and prayer, community and trusting in God, do give us a way through.
Amen.
Friends,
Sacred Heart would like our assistance with the Holy Week lunch and service on Monday. They expect 130 people to eat lunch. They’ve asked us to provide the desserts. Also, if some of us can go help set up and serve, we should be there at 10:30am. Lunch begins at 11:30am and goes until 12:30pm. A short service follows the lunch. Please let me know if you can make a dessert and/or if you can help serve. You can bring your desserts to church on Sunday or drop them off at Sacred Heart Church after 9am on Monday.
Thanks
Rebecca
Sermon – April 6, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
Fifth Sunday in Lent
…he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out…. John 11:43-44
Please be seated.
I have spoken before about living in Washington, DC. While there, I spent a lot of time at the Washington National Cathedral. I mean, on Sundays, I sang at the 8:45 service; often helped at the 11:15 service; went to lunch nearby; and came back for the 4pm Evensong service. Something was happening to me spiritually when I moved to Washington and I found comfort in the Cathedral’s space.
There is a quiet space in the crypt level, called the Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage. Often, after the service, I went there to pray. It is lit with candle light and there is only one small stained glass window to let in the light from outside. It is known as the quietest space in the Cathedral and was a place of deep prayer for me.
Just outside of the Center is Resurrection Chapel. The walls are filled with mosaics representing scenes from the resurrection of Jesus. The small gold and red pieces dominate and seemingly illumine the space. This chapel is reserved for quiet prayer and was often a place to go to after being in the Center.
One Sunday afternoon, I was sitting in Resurrection chapel. I don’t remember the circumstances of my life just then. It may have been after my mother died or a relationship didn’t work out. I sat in that Resurrection Chapel and heard, “I will resurrect your life.” I left excited and also curious and puzzled. I wasn’t exactly sure what it all meant. One thing I knew was that my life was on a path of change.
We hear quite a bit about resurrection today, don’t we? The lesson from Ezekiel is a familiar one. The Israelites were in bondage in Babylon. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. At the time, some believed they would be cut off from God because their temple was gone and they were in a foreign land. But Ezekiel’s visions of the Glory of God confirm that God is with the people in exile. And today’s passage is the message that though the Babylonian exile is harsh to the point of them feeling like dried out bones, God will restore them. God will give them new life. God will resurrect them. The dry bones will live again.
Then there’s the well-known story of Lazarus, Jesus’ good friend. Jesus is about 24 miles away from Lazarus, Mary and Martha. He is across the Jordan River, near where he had been baptized. This is a desert, dry place in modern-day Jordan. Jesus receives word that Lazarus has died. Eventually Jesus goes to Bethany where this dramatic resurrection unfolds. Although dead for three days, Jesus calls Lazarus to wake from death…to come out of that tomb. And Lazarus does just that! Mary and Martha are overjoyed and many believe Jesus is the Messiah. At the same time, the scene is set for Jesus to be crucified. This astonishing miracle offends the authorities. Jesus is dangerous.
Earlier in the week, I was speaking with a 10 year old boy about this very story. I told him it was the Gospel for the week and asked him what I should preach about. We agreed that to see Lazarus rise from the dead would have been both amazing and scary. And we never hear Lazarus’ side of the story, do we? What was it like for Lazarus to climb out of that tomb and back into life? What was the rest of his life like?
The author Colm Toibin explored this somewhat in his fascinating short book, The Testament of Mary, which became a Broadway play last year. While the book is not a Biblical retelling of the story, it does explore what might have been Lazarus’ experience in being resurrected. In Toibin’s story, people flocked around Lazarus out of curiosity and at the same time, they were afraid of Lazarus…afraid of what he’d seen and what he knew. No one could relate to what Lazarus had been through. Toibin presents Lazarus as dazed by his experience. AND ultimately, Lazarus would die once again.
The joy of resurrection, the knitting of the dry bones together once again, comes with some tough challenges.
And is that not true of our lives? “I will resurrect your life,” we hear when we are in that dry wilderness place…bone weary, closed in the tomb with no light. Maybe a place of comfort in some sense…a place of protection…a wall between us and the world. Yet, the stone is rolled away, Jesus cries with a loud voice, and pulls us out into the world.
The important point to note is that we are not the same. We cannot resume our lives as they were before. Everything has changed. The experience in the exile of the tomb changes us and changes us in ways we cannot always explain to others. We are old, yet new born. The bones may be the same, but they are knit together and clothed in new ways. Hope and astonishment are moderated with the reality of living life in a new way.
Once again Paul reminds us of the fruits of coming out of the tomb when he writes to the Romans, “To set the mind on flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” He adds, “But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Life, peace, and the Spirit of God dwelling within us allow us to come out of the tomb, face the challenges and to live again.
Amen
Sermon – March 30, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
Fourth Sunday in Lent
I have told you already, and you would not listen. John 9:27
Please be seated.
The physical act of seeing is a tricky thing. When I was on the School Board in Harrisburg, a man came to give us a presentation about quality improvement. Part of the presentation was a movie. I can’t remember the name of the movie, but I have never forgotten one of the parts of that movie. It showed a person dealing cards very quickly. The action happened twice and we were told to look very carefully. It was just a hand dealing cards. Then they slowed down the action and it turned out all of the colors of each suit were reversed, so the hearts and diamonds were black and the spades and clubs were red! It was astounding to know that I refused to see the reality, because it conflicted with all of my experience and belief.
We see that in our Gospel story today, don’t we? Jesus challenges the worldview of an entire community by healing a man who was blind from birth. The people in the town have a difficult time accepting this miracle. It does not fit in with what they know. It conflicts with their experience and belief. Instead of rejoicing with the man, they debate and work hard to deny what has occurred.
Yesterday, a group of us gathered in the parish hall for training on Ministry Support Teams. These are teams set up in Network parishes to support the Priest-in-Charge. People and priests from Emanuel, Winchester and St. Mary’s, Middlesboro were also at the training. One piece of the training was about the difference between debate and dialogue.
Now, just in the words, there is a fundamental difference. The word “debate” comes from a French word meaning to fight or to beat down. Dialogue goes back to Latin and Greek meaning to “speak through” or “through words.”
The goal of debate is to win against your opponent. In a debate, when you listen, it is only to counter what the other person says, to find the weakness in the argument, especially so you can discount and devalue it. In debate, you make assumptions about another person’s experience and motivations. At the very beginning of the Gospel, the disciples, speaking in the worldview of their time, ask Jesus, “who sinned, this man or his parents….?” The assumption was that sin was the cause of the man’s blindness. Because Jesus healed on the Sabbath, some discounted the healing, saying it was not from God.
In debate you ask questions to trip up your opponent or confuse them on the issue. This happened to Jesus a lot. In debate, you interrupt the other speaker or change the subject. You are not concerned about the person, but only about your next point. You deny the other person’s experience, saying it is distorted or invalid. Look at our story today where people continually ask the man who had been blind how he was healed. He had to keep telling them the story. His parents were called in to authenticate his identity. When the man insists on what occurred…on his experience, they drive him out of the town.
Why do we insist on debate, instead of dialogue? Kathryn Schulz studied why we as humans insist that our way of looking at things is right…why we have such trouble admitting when we are wrong. She wrote a book, Being Wrong. She also has a TED talk online. One of the things she says is that early in life, we internalize that “getting something wrong means there’s something wrong with us. So we just insist that we’re right, because it makes us feel smart and responsible and virtuous and safe.” (http://www.ted.com/talks/kathryn_schulz_on_being_wrong/transcript) She says we live in this “tiny, terrified space of rightness.” Our love of debate is about being in this “tiny, terrified space of rightness.”
Where we need to be, and truly where we have tremendous capacity to be…where Jesus calls us to be…is in dialogue. The goal of dialogue is an increased understanding of ourselves and of others. When we listen, we’re trying to understand the other person. We listen for strengths to affirm the other person and to learn. We speak from our own experience and understanding, rather than from the assumptions we’ve made about others. We ask questions to increase understanding. We allow others to complete their communications. We concentrate on the other person’s words and feelings. We accept others’ experiences as real and valid for them. We respect and are open to how the other person expresses their real feelings and how we express our feelings as a way of understanding and catharsis.
In our Gospel today, the man who had been blind is engaging in dialogue, while those around him are engaging in debate. The man’s experience is so powerful, he is thrust out of the “tiny, terrified space of rightness,” probably the space he had been living in, to a new place. That’s the power of dialogue. Dialogue can transform us. Dialogue makes us grow. Dialogue changes everyone who is involved in the discussion. It opens us up.
In dialogue we honor our own experiences as valid; we trust others to respect our differences; we trust ourselves to be able to hear different points of view; we open ourselves up to the pain of others, as well as the pain we feel ourselves; we see Christ in others.
When we are in dialogue, we can grow. We can agree to disagree – to know that we can look at the same facts or situation and come to different conclusions or slightly different places, yet still be in community together…to still be in communion with each other.
That’s what Jesus asks. We come with our assumptions about life. With the way things are supposed to be and Jesus says, “consider this.” Look at the world in a new way. Don’t debate me, but be in dialogue with me…in connection with me, he pleads. The man who was blind remains in dialogue with Jesus. He is open. Jesus asks him whether he believes in the Son of Man and the man who had been blind, asks a question to learn more. Receiving an answer, he professes his belief.
In Ephesians, the writer provides us with the fruits of dialogue, “but now in the Lord you are light.” We are light to the world. When we can leave debate behind and engage in dialogue, we are transformed and live as children of the light.
Amen