Tag Archives: Rev. Rebecca

This Sunday (September 28, 2014) at St. John’s

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Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.  Philippians 2:4

This week I’m in Berea attending the Brushy Fork Institute.  St. Agnes’ House receives $13,500 from the Berea College Appalachian Fund, so we are encouraged to attend this Institute each year.  A major focus is strengthening the leadership in Appalachia.  There are speakers and intensive workshop tracks on helpful subjects.  This year, I’m learning more about ways to communicate that build relationship and partnership.  Look out everyone, because you know I’ll be practicing and sharing what I learn.

Another thing I like about the Institute is the food.  Wednesday evening, we had dinner at Boone Tavern, a wonderful place to eat.  I enjoyed conversations with the people at my table.  Some have lived and worked in the region of Appalachia for many years.  Of course, I had to ask my perennial question — Why has poverty persisted in this region?

Well, we had a fun discussion and veered onto how to build a diverse economy in the region.  One of the issues we talked about is how possible it is to build a business that balances the interests of the business with the interests of the people.  For instance, if the minimum wage kept pace with what it was years ago, it’d be well over $10; not the $7.25 it currently is.  Would paying the minimum wage workers a little more money help both business and people?  Could families be better supported?

In the early church, Paul exhorted believers to reach out beyond themselves and their own personal interests to do what was helpful and caring for others.  What does that look like in your world?  How can we make it happen?

Love, Rebecca+

Bulletin 09-28-2014 insert

Bulletin 09-28-2014

REMINDER:  We celebrate Latino/Latina Heritage Month this Sunday.    Take a look at the bulletin and insert to review the music we’ll be singing.  We’ll also be saying the Lord’s Prayer in Spanish!

Pot Luck This Sunday!  It’s pot luck Sunday, Bring your favorite dish to share.  All are welcome!  Our pot luck schedule is changing for October and November.  October 19 will be pot luck, which is when Bishop Hahn makes his annual visit.  November 16 will be pot luck to coincide with the Annual Meeting.

Rebecca’s Schedule: Rebecca will be at St. John’s Tuesday and Thursday this week. Her Sabbath Day will be Monday, September 29 and Friday October 3. You can get a message to her by calling the church office at 606-528-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Adult Forum: The Adult Forum is reviewing and discussing the 39 Articles of Faith, pages 867-876 in the Book of Common Prayer through September 28.

Sunday School – Godly Play: The Godly Play program is for children is offered each Sunday morning at 10:00 am .  All children are invited to participate in this special form of spiritual development.

Confirmation Classes: Confirmation classes are being held every Wednesday through October 1 from 6:30-8pm.  All are invited.  This week’s session will be sacramental theology.

Godly Play Teachers needed. Godly Play teachers are needed.  Training is provided.  This is a wonderful program of spiritual development for children and we’d like to keep it going in the parish.  Please let Rebecca know if you are willing to be trained and serve as a teacher for a period of approximately 1 month.

The ECW Annual meeting is scheduled for Saturday, October 4, 10:30am through lunch, Trinity, Covington.  There will be a recognition of Honored Women.  To attend, please contact Lisa Edwards, ledwards102@gmail.com, 859-341-7324.

Belk Charity Sales Day:  The annual Belk Charity Sales day will be Saturday, November 8, 6-10am.  Members of St. John’s are selling tickets for $5.00 for this special event.  The church keeps the $5.00 and for each ticket you receive $5.00 off an item.   We will also sell tickets on Thursday, October 2, 10am – 2pm.  If you can help, please contact June.

We will be having an initial gathering of those interested in the Brotherhood of St. Andrew on October 5 after the Sunday service. To learn more, speak to Bruce Cory. You can also learn more from http://www.brotherhoodofstandrew.org/about.php

Furnace Needed: The furnace located in the sacristy, which heats part of the social hall and hallways must be replaced prior to this winter.  Cost is $2,250 for a furnace that will also be more energy efficient.  We’ll also need to replace two more furnaces over the next two years:  one that heats the parish hall and one that heats the rectory.  Donations for the furnace can be put in the boxes back on the shelves in the parish hall.

Bring your pets to church to be blessed on Sunday, October 5.  We will have a service outdoors in our park (or in the amphitheater).  Pets should be leashed and/or in carriers.

The Grow Appalachia Committee will meet Wednesday, October 1, at 4:30pm, and after church on Sunday, October 5, to distribute flyers for the October 8 community meeting.

St. John’s is now registered with the Kroger Community Rewards Program, organization #47782. Please register your Kroger card at http://krogercommunityrewards.com .

  • Be sure to have your Kroger Plus card handy and register your card with your organization after you sign up.
  • If a member does not yet have a Kroger Plus card, please let them know that they are available at the customer service desk at any Kroger.
  • Click on Sign In/Register
  • Most participants are new online customers, so they must click on SIGN UP TODAY in the ‘New Customer?’ box.
  • Sign up for a Kroger Rewards Account by entering zip code, clicking on favorite store, entering your email address and creating a password, agreeing to the terms and conditions
  • You will then get a message to check your email inbox and click on the link within the body of the email.
  • Click on My Account and use your email address and password to proceed to the next step.
  • Click on Edit Kroger Community Rewards information and input your Kroger Plus card number.
  • Update or confirm your information.
  • Enter NPO number (47782) or name of organization, select organization from list and click on confirm.
  • To verify you are enrolled correctly, you will see your organization’s name on the right side of your information page.
  • REMEMBER, purchases will not count for your group until after your member(s) register their card(s).
  • Do you use your phone number at the register?  Call 800-576-4377, select option 4 to get your Kroger Plus card number.
  • Members must swipe their registered Kroger Plus card or use the phone number that is related to their registered Kroger Plus card when shopping for each purchase to count.

This Sunday (September 21) at St. John’s

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Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  Collect, Proper 20, pg 234, Book of Common Prayer

Every service, we hear many Collects.  A Collect is a prayer usually said by the priest that sums up the prayers of everyone.  It “collects” the prayers of all.  There is a particular format for a Collect and you can find more information here.  Each Sunday, we hear the Collect for Purity, as well as a Collect for the Day.

This Sunday we’ll pray, Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things….  Wow, that’s a big thing to ask, isn’t it?  Do we ever have moments without some anxiety, whether it’s about our loved ones, our health, or our economic situation?  Seems like our lives are riddled with anxiety.  Yet, that anxiety can pull us away from God…make us forget the source of our strength and of our life.  So, this Collect reminds us to focus on things heavenly…to focus on God.  Not that our anxieties are not real, but so our lives are in balance and so we can actually live our lives.

Anxiety paralyzes us.  Anxiety makes us lose hope.  Anxiety isolates us.  Coming together each Sunday allows us to be with each other and to share our anxieties.  It allows us to refocus our anxieties and transform them.  Whenever anxiety gets the best of you, pray this Collect and then come be with the community of Christ at St. John’s!

Blessings as you finish your week!

Love, Rebecca+

Bulletin 09-21-2014

Rebecca’s Schedule: Rebecca will be at St. Agnes’ House Tuesday through Friday this week. Her Sabbath Day will be Monday, September 22. You can get a message to her by calling the church office at 606-528-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

A computer has been donated! We have received the generous gift of a new office computer. Thank you!

Adult Forum: The Adult Forum is reviewing and discussing the 39 Articles of Faith, pages 867-876 in the Book of Common Prayer through September 28.

Sunday School – Godly Play: The Godly Play program is for children is offered each Sunday morning at 10:00 am .  All children are invited to participate in this special form of spiritual development.

Confirmation Classes: Confirmation classes are being held every Wednesday through October 1 from 6:30-8pm.  All are invited.  This week’s session will be structure of the Episcopal Church.

Godly Play Teachers needed.  Godly Play teachers are needed.  Training is provided.  This is a wonderful program of spiritual development for children and we’d like to keep it going in the parish.  Please let Rebecca know if you are willing to be trained and serve as a teacher for a period of approximately 1 month.

Pot Luck Sunday:  Next Sunday, September 28, is our monthly pot luck.  Bring a dish or drink to share.  And all are welcome!  Plan to fellowship with each other.  Our pot luck schedule shifts in October and November.  Pot Luck will be October 19, when the Bishop visits; and November 16, when we have our Annual Meeting.

The ECW Annual meeting is scheduled for Saturday, October 4, 10:30am through lunch, Trinity, Covington.  There will be a recognition of Honored Women.  To attend, please contact Lisa Edwards, ledwards102@gmail.com, 859-341-7324.

Bring your pets to church to be blessed on Sunday, October 5.  We will have a service outdoors in our park (or in the amphitheater).  Pets should be leashed and/or in carriers.

Belk Charity Sales Day:  The annual Belk Charity Sales day will be Saturday, November 8, 6-10am.  Members of St. John’s are selling tickets for $5.00 for this special event.  The church keeps the $5.00 and for each ticket you receive $5.00 off an item.   We will also sell tickets on Thursday, October 2, 10am – 2pm.  If you can help, please contact June.

We will be having an initial gathering of those interested in the Brotherhood of St. Andrew on October 5 after the Sunday service. To learn more, speak to Bruce Cory. You can also learn more from http://www.brotherhoodofstandrew.org/about.php

Furnace Needed: The furnace located in the sacristy, which heats part of the social hall and hallways must be replaced prior to this winter.  Cost is $2,250 for a furnace that will also be more energy efficient.  $1,000 has been pledged towards the replacement so far and Vestry has agreed to go ahead and have the furnace installed now.  We’ll also need to replace two more furnaces over the next two years:  one that heats the parish hall and one that heats the rectory.  Donations for the furnace can be put in the box located on the table in the parlor, or placed in the offering plate marked “furnace.”

We will celebrate Latino/Latina Heritage Month  at our service on September 28.  If you’d like to read one of the lessons, please see Rebecca.  In preparation, you can practice the Lord’s Prayer in Spanish:

 Padre nuestro que estás en el cielo,

santificado sea tu Nombre,

venga tu reino,

hágase tu voluntad,

en la tierra como en el cielo.

Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día.

Perdona nuestras ofensas,

como también nosotros perdonamos

a los que nos ofenden.

No nos dejes caer en tentación

y líbranos del mal.

Porque tuyo es el reino,

tuyo es el poder,

y tuya es la gloria,

ahora y por siempre. Amén.

 

Month

2014

(# Sundays)

 Budget

YTD

 Actual

YTD

 Monthly

Budget

 Actual

Monthly
Total Revenue $31,647.33 $20,909.06 $3,955.92 $2,193.00
Total Expense $31,647.33 $30,289.27 $3,955.92 $3,249.69
Difference   -$9,380.21   -$1,056.69

 

Forgive, seriously (Sermon) September 14, 2014

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Sermon – September 14, 2014

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 19) Track 1

Peter came and said to Jesus, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”  Matthew 18:21-22

 Please be seated.

Well, when we hear this, don’t we just want to respond incredulously, “Seriously, Jesus?”  Aren’t some things just unforgiveable?

Earlier this week, we remembered the events of September 11, 2001, now 13 years ago!  Can it be so long ago?  The images are seared in our memory, aren’t they?  You mean we must forgive such evil?  The writer for our Forward Day by Day wrote, “The terrorists who flew the planes on 9/11 forced us to confront the power of evil and challenged us to find a way to respond with forgiveness.” (Forward Day by Day, Vol. 80, No. 3, pg 44)

Seriously?

Last evening, I made a new Facebook friend.  The profile photo shows a younger version of this man who turned 57 yesterday.  In his profile photo, he looks about 5 or six and seems to be perched on his father’s lap.  The father is looking straight out at us…with piercing eyes, a 60sslicked hairdo, gorgeous suit with pretty, thin blue tie and an almost smile on his face.  The epitome of the good-looking early 60s man.  Six years later, the father was murdered on the streets of Detroit.  The boy was only 11 years old, left fatherless.

But that 11-year old boy wrote a letter to the judge in his father’s murder trial, pleading that the judge not sentence his father’s killer to death.  Having lost his own father, this 11-year old boy did not want any other child to go through the same experience of losing their father.

Seriously?

Some things seem unforgiveable and our faith and followship of Jesus Christ demand forgiveness.  Every Sunday, we say the prayer Jesus taught us to say, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  Often we remember that Jesus hung on a cross, dying a most horrible death of torture, betrayed by his own community, yet asking God to forgive his killers.

But still, we want to live in the “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” where everyone ends up blind and toothless world.

Why does Jesus demand extreme forgiveness and how in the world can we forgive?

Seriously, forgiveness is good for us, spiritually, emotionally and physically, according to the Mayo Clinic’s “Healthy Adult” website. (http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/adult-health/in-depth/forgiveness/art-20047692?pg=1) When we can’t forgive, the wrong done to us overtakes us.  We spend lots of brain space to remember what happened, living it over and over.  We spend plenty of emotional energy hanging on to our anger and bitterness.  Not forgiving means we miss what’s happening in our lives today.  We also cut off new and helpful relationships.

Forgiveness, according to the Mayo Clinic site can bring us the following benefits:

  • Healthier relationships
  • Greater spiritual and psychological well-being
  • Less anxiety, stress and hostility
  • Lower blood pressure
  • Fewer symptoms of depression
  • Lower risk of alcohol and substance abuse

Seriously, forgiveness acknowledges our humanity.  None of us are perfect.  We have all done things to hurt ourselves and to hurt others. We are all in need of forgiveness.  Not forgiving means we live as if we could be perfect and as if we are not human, which is ultimately cruel.  Forgiveness means we live with compassion and humility.  That’s what the 11-year-old boy knew – compassion.

Seriously, forgiveness acknowledges our deep understanding of the heart of God.  Time after time, Jesus told stories about how God searches for us when we are lost; how God rejoices when we are found; how God opens wide God’s arms to embrace us when we return.  In other words, God’s forgiveness of us never ends.  There is nothing we can do to separate us from the love of God, Paul writes.  God’s heart of love is rooted in forgiveness, because forgiveness sets us free, both when we forgive and when we know we are forgiven for what we do.

But how can we forgive?

First of all, forgiveness is not forgetting.  People must still face the consequences of their actions.  And if the one who wronged us has not acknowledged that wrong, nor repented of it, they may not be the best people for us to be around.  Remember, we are clear-eyed and wise.  We can forgive and remember.

Sister Joan Chittister, a Roman Catholic Benedictine nun, has written a book of reflections on forgiveness, God’s Tender Mercy: Reflections on Forgiveness (Twenty-Third Publications).  I found an excerpt online, which I think explains a lot about forgiveness.

“A young woman, the [ancient monastic] story goes, who is heavy with child and terrified of being executed for dishonoring the family name, accuses a revered old monk, who prayed daily at the city gates, of assaulting her and fathering the child. The people confronted the old man with the accusation. But the old man’s only response to the frenzy of the crowd was a laconic, “Is that so?” As he gazed into space and went on fingering his beads, the townspeople became even more infuriated and drove the culprit out of town.

Years later, the woman, exhausted by her guilt and wanting to relieve her burden and make restitution, finally admitted that it was her young lover, not the old monk, who fathered the child. In fear for his life as well as her own, she had lied about the attack. Stricken with compunction, the townspeople rushed to the hermitage in the hills where the old man was still saying his prayers and leading his simple life. “The girl has admitted that you did not assault her,” the people shouted. “What are you going to do about that?” But all the old monk answered was, “Is that so?” and went right on fingering his beads.”  http://oblatesosbbelmont.org/2010/11/19/the-secret-of-forgiveness/

You see, Sister Chittister explains, “The fact is [,] that there is nothing to forgive in life if and when we manage to create an interior life that has more to do with what we are than with what other people do to us. What we are inside ourselves determines how we react to others — no matter what they do.”  When we are grounded in our faith, knowing deeply our humanity, knowing we are loved and forgiven by God, we are not pulled into the whirlwind of reacting to others around us.

Sister Chittister concludes, “Forgiveness is a gift that says two things. First, I am just as weak as everyone else in the human race and I know it. And, second, my inner life is too rich to be destroyed by anything outside of it.”

So forgive 77 times.  Forgive from the heart so that you may have abundant life…so that you may have joy… so that you may have peace…so that you may live in the love of God.

Seriously….

Amen

The Obligation of Love (Sermon) September 7, 2014

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Sermon – September 7, 2014

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 18) Track 1

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.  Romans 13:8

Please be seated.

I don’t know about you, but I have thought a lot about love over the years.  When I was 13, a church youth newspaper printed my thoughts about love.  It was a contest of sorts and I remember receiving a check in the mail for a few dollars.  My favorite popular song at that time was, “Love Can Make You Happy.”

Our popular culture gives us plenty of messages about love, but it’s mostly about romantic love and even distorted love.

In our lessons today, we hear a lot about love…about the love of God.  Paul, in his letter to the Romans, emphasizes our sole obligation to each other – to love one another.  The Greek word used is Agape.  According to one commentary, Agape is actively doing what God prefers.  This is not about how we feel, it is about how we behave…. This is NOT about how we feel, it is about how we BEHAVE.

We are reflections of God’s love for us.  God showed us Agape, in that God came to live among us.  God, through his son, Jesus Christ, died the most horrible death at our hands.  Yet, instead of revenge, God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.  God continued to show love and interest in us, despite our unworthiness and despite our rejection.  Agape is acting in ways that promote another’s good…that promote another’s welfare.

Open your Book of Common Prayer to page 305.  Let’s read the second paragraph on that page:

Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

That’s what Agape is.  That’s what Paul says is our Christian obligation.

But make no mistake, this is not romantic love.  This is not conditional love – you do this for me and I’ll do that for you.  This is clear-eyed love.  This is love freely given, even when we reject it.

For example, look at our Exodus passage.  Now, most of us don’t live on farms anymore, so it might be hard to hear the details regarding the slaughter and eating of the lamb.  But even before the Israelites are freed from their oppressors, God is telling them to remember God’s love in action in freeing them from their oppressors.

Throughout this beginning part of Exodus, we continually hear God telling Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh and demand that the Israelites be freed.  “Let my people go,” is the cry.  Now God, I believe, loves Pharaoh AND God is realistic about Pharaoh.  God gives Pharaoh so many chances to take the love actions.  Yet, God says in Exodus 7:14, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go.”  God gives Pharaoh chance after chance to be loving to the Israelites…to not oppress them.  Yet with each time Pharaoh rejects God’s demand, Pharaoh and the Egyptians face tougher and tougher consequences.

God’s love of Pharaoh isn’t like the sweet love we so often see reflected in our culture.  This is clear-eyed love.  And just like Pharaoh, we get the chance to be guided by God…to be guided by the way God wants us to live  — love in action.  And just like God, we are smart and shrewd, wise and discerning about the reality of ourselves and of our fellow human beings.

We can work for the good of the people involved with ISIS and we are wise to the facts about the violence and evil they perpetuate.  I’m not sure I can exactly articulate how to work for their good, but it is the way we Christians are called to live.  Working for the good – active loving of the other AND knowing they are hard hearted and must face the consequences of that hard heartedness.

This agape love is challenging and hard, because our emotions pull us.  Also, our either/or thinking.  I must either love ISIS or hate ISIS.  But as Christians, we live in a both/and world.

Look at the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32.  “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me,” says the father’s youngest son.  Now, you know the father knew what was going to happen, but the father does as the youngest son asks.  The father doesn’t try to stop the son.  The father doesn’t lecture to the son.  And the father does not rescue the son, either.  The father lets the son leave, lets the son squander his inheritance – all that the father had to give to him.  The son must face the consequences of his actions and his choices.  The son ends up feeding pigs.  We read, “He would have gladly filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.”  (Luke 15:16)

Finally, the youngest son decides that living as a hired hand working for his father would be preferable to the life he is living.  We read, “He came to himself….”  He decides to go to his father, to own up to what he has done.  “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” (Luke 15:18-19)

And we are totally unprepared for his father’s response.  “But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.”  (Luke 15:20)  God gives us guidance and direction and ultimately lets us choose the way we will go.  And God knows that we humans make unwise choices and reject God.  God knows this about us.  God lets us “make our own beds and lie in them” as the saying goes.  Yet, when we want to return…when we come to ourselves…God runs to meet us and embraces us.

That’s the love Paul is speaking about…the love that God wants us to show each other.  The clear-eyed, firmly set in reality kind of love, that works for our own good, despite our own bad behavior.  That works for the good of others, despite their own bad behavior.

And so today in our Gospel, we are given specific instructions about acting in love when another church member sins against us.  We are to go to that person and talk to them directly.  If the person cannot hear us, then we take two to three others with us and talk directly.  If the person still cannot hear us, then we take the issue to the church community.  If the person still does not listen, there are consequences.  The person cannot be part of the community any longer.  Many chances and opportunities are given to the person.  And the person has choices to make, with consequences.  Tough, clear-eyed love.

So, each week, we gather as God’s community.  To the best of our ability, we confess our sins to God.  We pass the peace and greet each other.  We come to the table and eat the meal of love given to us by Jesus our Savior.

“Owe no one anything, except to love one another….” (Romans 13:8)

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are We Rich Soil? (Sermon) July 13, 2014

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Sermon – July 13, 2014

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

Fifth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 10) Track 1

Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Matthew 13:5-6

Please be seated.

Letting go is easy sometimes.  When I was in the second year of a 2-year discernment process, I found letting go of my things to be very easy.  I had no idea whether the Bishop would approve to send me to seminary and even if he did, I figured it’d be another year until I could start.  Yet, I was ready to get rid of things.  Things like part of my doll collection I’d had since a child.  Things like my Geisha Girl China I’d had for years and the gilded corner cabinet it went in.  Things like the 43 year old kitchen table my parents bought when we’d moved into our new house when I was 11 years old, a table my brother had used in New York City for many years.

I was ready to let go…to downsize…to say good-bye to these things I’d carted from my childhood home and five addresses in Pennsylvania to Connecticut, New York, Kansas, North Carolina, and DC, through two marriages and raising two children.  They held many memories and connections.  Something new was happening and I knew I needed to let go of these things.  They began to weigh me down…hold me down.  These things and my holding on to them felt like the hard soil Jesus speaks of today.  The new thing coming in my life would wither and die trying to plant itself within the things of my past.

Now this openness to change, to parting with my things, was something that only developed over time.  You see, at one time, I kept every single card someone had ever sent to me.  I never threw anything away, it seems.  I paid plenty of money to haul these things back and forth across the country and to rent storage space when I couldn’t accommodate these things in my living space!  I loved the hard soil these things made.  Sure they were often stuck away in boxes, hidden from view and rarely viewed.  At times, I didn’t even notice the clutter they created…getting so used to working around it or having a smaller space in which to live.

Do you create hard soil in your life, so that new seeds sent from God spring up quickly, but easily wither and are scorched by the sun?  Trying to keep things the way they were traps us in a past that is long gone.  It does feel safe, when all around us is changing, but the safety is an illusion and a temporary comfort.

Yesterday, I was trying to plant a rose bush out in the garden.  Now, I didn’t have the right kind of shovel, but even so, the ground was so hard.  I’m not sure that bush has enough depth of soil to survive.  There is some hard ground around here…

Yes, where have we here at St. John’s created hard soil within ourselves so the seeds God sows wither and die?  What do we cling to…things that at one time might have been new seeds, planted in good soil, after all, but now have created hard soil and reject the new seeds?  We didn’t always have the parish hall.  We didn’t always have the kitchen and parlor area.  We didn’t always have the meeting rooms.  The parlor was once offices.  The park was once a school yard.  Each new person who came to St. John’s needed to find the good soil to plant themselves and each new plant created a community with different needs and different skills and different passions.  The one thing that didn’t change was the worship of God and the connection to The Episcopal Church.  But other than that, many things have changed in the church’s 108 years.

God isn’t afraid of the change, I don’t think, because God keeps calling us to do God’s work here in this place.  Yet, are we so hardened, that God’s mission for us withers and dies?  Are we so attached to what is comfortable for us that the seeds do not find depth of soil?  Are we so afraid of change, that we doom ourselves and the community of St. John’s to death?

The church has been here many years.  God has faith in us, I’d say.  God keeps calling us and guiding us to be the good, rich soil that produces thirty, sixty, and even one hundred fold.

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Sunday (July 13) at St. John’s

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Thus Esau despised his birthright.  Genesis 25:34

I’ve talked before about my grandmother being raised by a stepmother, who we called Cia.  Every afternoon, Cia made the girls in the family crochet with the small hooks and white crochet thread.  They made doilies and fine crochet work.  My grandmother’s sister, Mary, told me she would kick the thread under the couch because she hated to crochet.  My grandmother stuck with it and I have many beautiful things she made, including an amazing bedspread with a bird pattern on it.

My grandmother said it wasn’t always easy growing up with their stepmother.  About her brother and sisters’ behavior towards their stepmother, she said, “Our heads were little.  We didn’t understand.”

And Esau does not understand about his birthright.  He despises it and hold it of little value.  He sells it for a bowl of stew.  How many times in life do we take something or someone for granted?  How many times do we cast something aside of great value, because in the moment, it appears something else is more important?

My grandmother and her siblings took care of Cia throughout her life.  While times were rough early on, they eventually understood how fortunate they were to have their stepmother in their lives.

Blessings as you finish your week!

Love, Rebecca+

My grandmother's stepmother made her crochet every afternoon. My grandmother made this bedspread prior to getting married!

My grandmother’s stepmother made her crochet every afternoon. My grandmother made this bedspread prior to getting married!

 

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Rebecca’s Schedule: Next week, I will be in Corbin on Thursday, July 17, and my Sabbath day will be Friday, July 18.  You can get a message to me by calling the church office at 606-528-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Adult Forum: This summer and early fall, we will discuss a portion of the Gospel of Matthew.   We will follow our Gospel lectionary, discussing the following week’s Gospel.  This week, we’ll discuss Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43.  Next week, we’ll discuss Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52.

KCEOC Lunch Program:  The KCEOC Summer Youth Lunch Program is distributing lunch Monday through Friday, 11:20-11:35am in our parking lot.  Youth 18 and under are eligible for this free lunch.  Youth are enjoying sitting in our park eating their lunch.  Monday through Thursday is a cold lunch of sandwich, fruit or vegetable, juice, and milk.  Friday is a hot lunch.  Please continue to get the word out.

Corbin Alumni Concert: The Corbin Alumni Band will be performing in the park on Saturday, July 12th.  Bring a lawn chair and join us for an evening of fellowship and music.

Gospel Jamboree 7th Birthday and Pig Roast:  Saturday, July 19, in the park 3pm – 9pm.  Come enjoy the music and the food!

DOK: Daughters of the King:meets the third Wednesday of each month at 4:30pm.  The next meeting is July 16.  Anne Day Davis will conclude her presentation on oils of the Bible

Diocese of Lexington Stewardship event: “Life as a Steward” is the theme of a daylong event designed to assist parish leaders enhance our ministry of stewardship. National stewardship leaders Keith Stroud of the Diocese of Virginia and Gene Musser of Kirby Smith Associates will be our guest leaders, and will guide us in presentations of theology of stewardship as well as practical aids for your parish stewardship program. This event will take place Saturday, August 2, from 9am to 3 pm at Ascension Frankfort.  For more information, including a flyer and registration form, click on the highlighted title of this paragraph.

Grow Appalachia:  The Vestry voted to move ahead with this project.  As we continue to work on this project, let the members of Vestry know your questions.  Their website is http://www.berea.edu/grow-appalachia/

Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.

  • Everlasting Arm, 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.

 

Welcoming Jesus (Sermon) June 29, 2014

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Sermon – June 29, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
Celebration of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Month
Third Sunday After Pentecost (Track 1)

Jesus said, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” Matthew 10:40

Please be seated.

“How was your weekend?,” is a common question on a Monday morning in many workplaces. Usually we give a nondescript answer of , “It was fine,” but with some friends, we may go further.  “It was great, because I saw my family.”  “It was wonderful, because I just relaxed.”  “I got a lot done in the garden and it’s looking really nice.”  “Well, cleaning wasn’t all that fun, but at least the house looks better.”  The question seems innocuous and friendly; a good way to get into the week.

But for some, that question is scary.  For people who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, they have to think about this and many other seemingly simple questions.  They must carefully pick their words.  In some places of work, they could be fired because of their sexual orientation.  Even when protected in their place of work, co-workers can shun them or put them down because they are LGBT.

Many of us hug when we say good-bye, especially when we are catching a train or a plane.  We give each other hearty hugs upon returning home.  You see it at transportation terminals all of the time, yet LGBT people must be very careful about this.  Is it okay to walk down the street holding hands?

And what about church?  So many religious groups reject people who are LGBT, even telling them they can change or easily deny themselves.  That being LGBT is not inherent to who they are, but an aberration of humanity.  And so some start on a life of hiding, trying to be something they are not.  Loving God, loving Jesus deeply and profoundly, sometimes called to religious service, they suffer.

Even when embracing who they are, coming to see themselves fully as loved and created by God, they can’t be sure that the faith community of their choice will welcome them.  In a church I belonged to, it appeared that LGBT people and couples were accepted, but when one couple wanted their photo for the church directory to portray them together as a couple, there was protest.  One of the men said, he never knew how much he could say about his life to others in the church, especially the young people, because he wasn’t sure the young person’s parent approved of him.

All of that hiding takes its toll.  The suicide rate for youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning is much higher than the norm.  People who are Lesbian and Gay form heterosexual marriages, hoping they might change…marriages that, while the two people truly love each other, often end in disaster.  People who are transgender find it difficult to get the medical care they need and the support needed to effectively transition.

While things are much better than they were even ten years ago, we continue to live in a society and a country that is unwelcoming and inhospitable to people who are LGBT.  For instance, I did not put in the newspaper that we were having this service.  I asked some of our members who are LGBT about whether to do this, because I don’t live as a person who is LGBT, so I can’t say totally what the dangers are here in this community or this region.  Ultimately, it seemed best to keep it quiet, but maybe I was wrong.

I informed Everlasting Arms of our service today, because I knew their faith understanding is different from ours.  You see, they are not here.  I thought of so many stories to tell you, but realized telling them would embarrass or make things difficult for some people.  I censored myself and what I am saying today. All of these little things are so painful.  As someone who is heterosexual, and fully understanding how heterosexism has been oppressive to people who are LGBT, I am sorry.  I hope I and I hope we at St. John’s can do better and lessen and stop the suffering.

Desmond Tutu says the most evil thing you can do is make a person think they are not a child of God.  Forcing people who are LGBT to hide tells them there is something wrong with the way they were created.

Jesus says, whoever welcomes the stranger, welcomes me.  There are no “buts.”  There are no qualifiers.  The passage doesn’t say, “Welcome the stranger, but only if….”

No, Jesus welcomed all and we are challenged to do the same.

In doing so, we truly are challenged.  As we talked about when we read the book, Radical Welcome, when we truly welcome as Christ did, our lives will be changed and may be reordered.  How was it to come into the sanctuary today with the rainbow paraments on the altar and the candles?  Being welcoming does not mean staying in control; it means being in partnership with those welcomed, creating something new in the process.  It means listening and hearing what the person, who before this time has been considered “other,” finds welcoming and hospitable.  It means trying to find a way for all of us to feel welcome.  It requires a new way to live together.

When we can truly welcome one another…when we can truly be hospitable, we bring the Kingdom of God right here and right now.

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Sunday (June 15) at St. John’s

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Greet one another with a holy kiss. 2 Cor. 13:12

Paul ends his second letter to the church in Corinth with this command.  The kiss Paul is referring to is intimate, but not in a romantic sense.  The church community was supposed to be intimate…sharing joys and struggles.  Sharing the true nature of each person, because of the freedom to be who they were, through the love and teachings of Jesus Christ.

The kiss of peace as it is known is where we get our “passing the peace” in our weekly service.  It is a sign of our intimacy as a parish.  It is a reminder, too, that if you cannot give a holy kiss to those around you, then you need to reconcile with your neighbor.  Ultimately that’s what our movement towards communion is.  The most intimate meal we share together.

Blessings as you finish your week.

Love, Rebecca+

My Schedule
I continue with my vacation through Saturday, June 21.  The Rev. Peter Helman, St. Mary’s Middlesboro is available for pastoral care.  He can be reached at 940-735-1235.

Morning Prayer will be the service this Sunday.  Bruce Cory will be the preacher.

Adult Forum: This Sunday, June 15, through early fall, we will discuss a portion of the Gospel of Matthew.   We will follow our Gospel lectionary, discussing the following week’s Gospel – Matthew 28:16-20

Wednesdays in the Park:  Join us each Wednesday through June 25 for hot dogs and fun.

Daughters of the King meets the third Wednesday of each month at 4:30pm. The next meeting
is June 18. Anne Day Davis will present on oils of the Bible.

June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Month. We will have a special service on
Sunday, June 29.

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 today.  The UTO Boxes will be gathered and brought forward with the offering.

Grow Appalachia:  The Vestry voted to move ahead with this project.  As we continue to work on this project, let the members of Vestry know your questions.  Their website is http://www.berea.edu/grow-appalachia/

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.

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.

 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.
  • KCEOC’s Women’s Emergency Shelter is in need of donated baby items, including baby clothing (sizes 6/9 months), diapers, wipes, bottles, etc.  Donations can be dropped off at KCEOC Community Action Partnership main office at Gray, KY.

Come as you are. (Sermon) April 27, 2014

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Sermon – April 27, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
Second Sunday of Easter

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”  John 20:27

Please be seated.

I love country music.  The twangier, the better.  I really need to go to Nashville.  One of the things I love about country music are the puns or the play on words.  They make me laugh.  They are so clever.  For instance, have you heard the Billy Currington song, like my dog?  The refrain goes:

Want you to love me like my dog does, baby.
When I come home, want you to just go crazy
He never looks at me like he might hate me
I want you to love me like my dog. 

Who comes up with this…so funny and yet so true.

Well, this past week, thanks to Linda and Paula, who frequently give me CDs to listen to while I’m driving, I’ve been listening to a Randy Travis CD of Gospel Tunes.  Some are familiar hymns like Blessed Assurance and Love Lifted Me.  Some I’d never heard before.  I’ll sing for awhile or listen for awhile and then my mind drifts.  So somehow I’d missed one of the songs .  It’s called, Pray for the Fish.  I became curious about it and decided to really listen.  And I was surprised and delighted to hear:

Everybody gathered where the river runs wider

At the edge of town
To see that Eddie Lee Vaughn baptism
Was really gonna go down
Folks bet their hard earned money
That water wouldn’t change a thing
They set the odds at a hundred to one
His soul wouldn’t never come clean
Then the preacher said
People take a moment or two
There’s something we need to do

Pray for the fish
They won’t know what’s coming
When the sin starts rolling off the likes of him
Lord be with ‘em, they ain’t done nothin’
Please won’t you leave them just a little bit ‘a room to swim
Pray for the fish

Well the preacher ducked him under
That cool clear water
Then he did it again
Eddie came up yelling
Lord in Heaven Hallalujah!
I’m a brand new man
Well the water got to bubbling
Sky got to rumbling
And the thunder backed up the choir
The fish started jumpin’
It was like they was swimmin’
In a lake of fire
Then Eddie’s momma stepped out of the crowd
And started yelling out loud

Pray for the fish
They won’t know what’s coming
When the sin starts rolling off the likes of him
Lord be with ‘em, they ain’t done nothin’
Please won’t you leave them just a little bit ‘a room to swim
Pray for the fish

He said everybody cross your fingers
Fold your hands
Pray for Ole Eddie
But before we say amen

Pray for the fish
Lord be with em, they ain’t done nothin’
Please won’t you leave them just a little bit ‘a room to swim
Pray for the fish
Lord pray for the fish

Well that Eddie Lee Vaughn was quite a person, wasn’t he, to get the waters roiling and on fire because of the sin rolling off him at his baptism? 

Now how in the world, does this relate to our Gospel today?  To our most familiar story of “Doubting Thomas?”  Even today you’ll hear someone say that another is a “Doubting Thomas.”  Well, Mr. Eddie Lee Vaughn of our humorous song states an obvious truth about how Jesus cares for us as shown in this Gospel:  Jesus comes to us exactly as we are. 

Yes…. Jesus doesn’t say, You MUST have faith before I’ll come to you.  Jesus doesn’t say, you MUST be perfect before I’ll come to you.  Jesus doesn’t say you MUST have no doubts before I’ll come to you.  Look at this story.

First of all, where was Thomas when Jesus came the first time?  Why had he left the group?  They had huddled together in fear after the trauma of Jesus’ death.  Even though they’d heard the reports of his resurrection, they were still afraid.  But where had Thomas gone?  Had he abandoned the community?  Had he left the group?  Did he get angry because of some decision they’d made and decided to leave?

We don’t know where he was…just that he wasn’t there.    He obviously returns to the community, but does not believe what he’s heard.  He has doubts about what his friends saw.  He won’t believe it until he sees it.  Isn’t that like so many of us?  Good friends come to us and tell us their experience or their story, but we are skeptical.  We might not say that directly to them, but sometimes we put them on the “witness stand” so to speak, questioning every part of their story.  Sometimes we trust science, even though scientists will tell you they don’t understand everything.  Most of the time, we want to see it for ourselves.  We are so like Thomas.

And Jesus could have refused to come back again.  Jesus could have said, “Well, that’s just like Thomas, and I won’t have anything to do with him.  He needs to get right and believe in me.  He needs to have faith in what his friends are telling him.”  Jesus could have refused to come in the way that Thomas needed him to come.

Instead, Jesus returns when Thomas is there.  Jesus consents to Thomas’ demand,  “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25).  Jesus allows Thomas to put his finger in the holes where the nails were.  Jesus allows Thomas to put his hand in the side that was pierced.  Jesus accepts Thomas.  Jesus loves Thomas.

This doubter, Thomas, believes.  Jesus comes to him as he is and in a way that strengthens Thomas’ faith.  What did Thomas do?  Remember on Jesus’ first visit to the Disciples, Jesus said,

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:21-23)

Jesus came to the disciples to commission them for their life’s work…for the work they must do now that he is no longer with them in human form.  Tradition has it that Thomas traveled to many places, including India.  He brought the Gospel and faith to India.  He is still quite revered there. 

Come as you are.  Come with your doubts and your skepticism.  Come with your questions.  Jesus accepts you.  Jesus loves you.  And Jesus will strengthen your faith, so you, like Thomas, can say, My Lord and my God! (John 20:28).  Jesus will send you out into the world to do the work only you can do.

Amen

 

 

The violence in us (sermon) Good Friday April 18, 2014

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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