Tag Archives: Year B

Zeal for Change (Sermon) March 8, 2015

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Sermon – March 8, 2015

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

Third Sunday in Lent Year B
International Women’s Day

03-08-2015 Bulletin

“Zeal for your house will consume me.” Psalm 69:9 as quoted in John 2:17

Have you ever met a person who’s been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?  I’ve had the great fortune to attend a lecture by the Dalai Lama (1989) and to meet Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1984) and hear him speak a number of times.

In the summer of 2012, I was fortunate to meet another Nobel Peace Prize Winner – Leymah Gbowee.  Ms. Gbowee, a social worker, spoke at the National Association of Social Workers conference I attended.  Ms. Gbowee was born in 1972 in Liberia and grew up during the civil wars in the country.  She left Liberia for a time, living in Ghana, but eventually returned to her country.  She was poor, sometimes homeless.

She was able to obtain some social work training, especially to help victims of the trauma from the first Liberian Civil War.  She eventually helped young boys who had been child soldiers in the war.

Midst the second Liberian Civil War, which began in 1999, she continued studying peacebuilding, especially connected to professors and students through a program at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, VA.  Various peacebuilding movements were occurring between countries of Africa and Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET) was established, with a branch in Liberia, headed by Gbowee in 2002.

In a dream, she heard God telling her to gather the women and pray for peace.  Gbowee was Christian and connected with a Mandingo-Muslim woman, named Asatu.  They started by gathering women to go to Muslim prayers every Friday, to the Saturday morning markets, and to two churches on Sunday.

Their flyers read: “We are tired! We are tired of our children being killed! We are tired of being raped! Women, wake up – you have a voice in the peace process!” They also handed out simple drawings explaining their purpose to the many women who couldn’t read.

They prayed Muslim and Christian prayers.  They wore white t-shirts to distinguish themselves.  Eventually, they met every single day in the capital.  They even met in a soccer field that the President passed every day.

Eventually, a peace process was convened in Ghana.  Gbowee led a contingent of women to the posh hotel where the men were meeting.  At first, they gathered outside of the hotel, but when the peace process dragged on, they went inside the hotel and sat down in protest just outside the doors of the meeting room.  They vowed not to move until peace was negotiated.  When the men tried to leave, the women threatened to take off their own clothes.  Ms. Gbowee explains, “In Africa, it’s a terrible curse to see a married or elderly woman deliberately bare herself.” (Mighty Be Our Powers, p. 162).  The peace accord finally came a few weeks later in August 2003.

The aftermath of war meant much work to restore the country and to heal the people.  Ms. Gbowee continued her studies, eventually earning a Master’s Degree in Peacebuilding from Eastern Mennonite University.

In our Gospel today, Jesus is angry.  But why?  I mean, the people had set up a system to worship God that had been in place for quite awhile.  There was a currency of the Temple since many people came from many different places.  They could convert their home currency into one used in the Temple.  Everything was there for sale that was necessary to make the proper sacrifices – thanksgiving or intercession or atonement.  The rules for sacrifice are contained in the early chapters of Leviticus.  They represent the main way humans interact with God.

But, you see, the wisdom of the world that set up this tidy little system, was not in accord with God’s.  It was not a worshipful space, but rather had become a place of commerce.  Imagine, God’s mercy…God’s worship distilled down to a simple formula – two turtledoves or a male sheep or goat.  Jesus has come to emphasize a new way to connect with God…not through sacrifice…not through pilgrimage to the Temple during the great feasts…but more directly through Jesus.

Once again, Jesus upsets the established ways of the world.  The established ways of the world upset him.

During Women’s History Month and today during International Women’s Day, we can take time to upset the ways of the world especially in regards to girls and women.  The statistics showing the reality of women’s lives are awful.  Yes, things have changed dramatically during my lifetime and yet women’s earnings continue to be less than they should be.  Poverty is greater.  Women in many countries are denied the most basic education and too many women still die in childbirth.  And the rates and acceptance of violence against women are scary.  We must upset the ways of the world today when it comes to women.

We can look to the example of Leymah Gbowee who came to know the power of women to require peace…to save their children.  A woman who worked across tribal and religious boundaries for the good of humanity.  She was and is not perfect.  The realities of war took their toll on her and she went into recovery from alcohol addiction.  Ms. Gbowee’s Christian beliefs grounded her.  In an address to students at Eastern Mennonite University in 2009, she said,

“I didn’t get there by myself… or anything I did as an individual, but it was by the grace and mercy of God…. He has held my hands. In the most difficult of times, he has been there. They have this song, “Order my steps in your ways, dear Lord,” and every day as I wake up, that is my prayer, because there’s no way that anyone can take this journey as a peacebuilder, as an agent of change in your community, without having a sense of faith…. As I continue this journey in this life, I remind myself: All that I am, all that I hope to be, is because of God.”

Amen

Losing your life (Sermon) March 1, 2015

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Second Sunday in Lent, Year B: March 1, 2015
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
The Rev. Phillip Haug

For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. Mark 8:35

I have often wondered how a million dollars would change my life. Have you?

As a child, I connected with the outside world by listening to the radio. I still remember an early game show: “The Sixty Four Dollar Question.” Such shows were modest indeed by current standards. Contestants anxiously awaited increasingly difficult questions. The last, and most difficult question, was the sixty four dollar question.

Years later, the show was resurrected by television. Time, inflation, and sponsorship had reached new heights. So the show was appropriately entitled “The sixty four thousand dollar question,”

In the late nineties, and not to be outdone by simple inflation, ABC took their lead from the success of a leading edge British show and aired an even grander prize in “Who wants to be a millionaire?” Host Regis Philbin started with easy multiple choice questions that gradually became more challenging.

In 2002 the show was syndicated with Merideth Vieira as host for eleven seasons. The show continued in 2013 with Cedric The Entertainer as host, to be followed last Fall by Terry Crews.

The format is simple. Contestants take turns answered a string of fifteen questions. In the 2000 season, five contestants captured the million dollar prize. In some seasons no one does. This popular show has won seven Daytime Emmy Awards.

Contestants are posited as the winners of this game, no matter how much, or how little, they win.

They are chosen by a process of interviews which are more concerned about the entertainment potential of their stage presence that what they know.

NBC offered up a show in December 2005 that did not require the contestant to know anything. The most intellectually challenged could easily play Deal or No Deal. It was a resounding success.

Today, versions of the show are broadcast in more than 80 countries. In the American version, Host Howie Mandel leads contestants through a succession of chance opportunities. Prizes range from a paltry one cent to an intoxicating million dollars. Contestants are periodically offered a deal to settle for a fixed amount or to risk continued uncertainty – among widely differing possibilities.

Like many gambling opportunities, this one is sheer chance. The big difference from the lottery or other games of chance is that the player risks nothing but the opportunity to win a larger prize or of being left with a smaller one.

Like flashing lights and clanging bells of a Las Vegas casino, the whirl and splash of the “game” is intended to hook greed and so impel contestants to take risks they might not otherwise. Friends, family, and the audience chip in to egg the contestants on. It is the fantasy dream come true: easy money with no risk of real losses.

More often, the risks we take do have real consequences. As a nation we have come through a period of  gambling more than ever. Families by the millions have bet their credit worthiness and financial well being on an uncertain future, all the while reducing their rate of savings to a trickle. Ten years ago in 2004 there were 1.6 million bankruptcy filings.

That is more than one for every 200 people or for every 79 households. In 2005, the rate did not improve, rising to one for every 60 households. While this spike was fueled in part by legislation which reduced bankruptcy protection, research by the Federal Reserve indicates that household debt was at a record high relative to disposable income. The economic recovery has helped. Last year, filings fell below one million, though 1.4 million cases are pending.

 

As a nation, we Americans set ourselves up for financial hard times. We happily lived with the illusion of material abundance while having too often settled for spiritual poverty.

 

No one is immune from the mania for more. Several years ago a friend of mine was elected bishop of Atlanta. His good fortune fell to naught when the Standing Committee found out that Bob had declared bankruptcy — after the election and while preparing to move from a prestigious parish in Richmond, Virginia.  He simply had not said anything about his perilous financial position.

 

The real enemy may be greed, but Greed has allies – envy and pride among them – that seek to break us and break up relationships.

 

Jesus challenged his disciples with a painful spiritual truth: “Those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.”

 

This is a hard saying, but somehow we know it is true. We know of Albert Sweitzer, Mother Theresa, and others less notable, but no less heroic in their sacrifices for others.

 

Have you ever asked yourself how far you would be willing to go to “save your life,” and what you might be willing to give up to “lose your life,” from a biblical perspective?.

 

Millionaires are among the fastest growing segment of the population in the United States. In their ground breaking book “The Millionaire Next Door” authors Thomas Stanley and William Danko point out that in America, 80 percent of millionaires have  acquired their wealth on their own within their own lifetimes.

 

They did it the old fashioned way by living within their means and investing in the future. Many have done so by starting and running small business enterprises. In the main, they live simply, buying their clothes at WalMart, wearing Timex watches, and driving  modest cars.

 

Not everyone is disposed to such self discipline and a million dollars is, of course, not what it was in the not too distant past.

But what about ten million? Most of us would notice such an increase on our balance sheets. James Patterson and Peter Kim,. in their book, The Day America Told the Truth, asked Americans what they would give up to acquire ten million dollars.  Here is what they heard:

 

Would abandon their families — 25%

Would abandon their church — 25%

Would become a prostitute for a week — 23%

Would give up American citizenship — 16%

Would leave their spouse — 16%

Would lie and let a murderer go free — 10%

Would kill a stranger — 7%

Would put their children up for adoption — 3%

 

To such Jesus affirms “What will it profit a man – or a woman – to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their life”

 

Ancient proverbs affirm that “the greedy person stirs up strife, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be enriched.” (Proverbs 28:25) And “Those who are greedy for unjust gain make trouble for their households.” Proverbs 15:27

 

In his letters to the Corinth and to Ephesus, Paul says the greedy will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:10, Ephesians 5:5). So how will we contend with our own inclinations to be greedy??

 

One way is to get to know those who have achieved mastery over their own greed. Some we might meet in history books, others we might know personally. Spend some time with them. Certainly such mastery did not come easily. For the way is narrow, and few are they who find it.

 

 

For example, consider Bill Bright of Campus Crusade. Bill died at the age of 91 in 2003. He committed his life to forming leadership for Christ on college campuses. In 2011 Campus Crusade was active in 191 countries, had 25,000 missionaries and an annual budget of $490 million. Money magazine has repeatedly found it to be “the most efficient religious group” in the country.

 

What few people know is that Bill led by example: both in his spiritual life and in his personal finances. Although at the head of a financially sound and powerful institution, he drew an annual salary for himself of $20,000 per year – modest indeed considering the impact his life had on so many tens of thousands of young people and the resources at his disposal.

 

For many years I served on the board of the South American Missionary Society – an organization with roots in Great Britain that serves Spanish Speaking people in Central and South America. It was my delight to work with other board members, several of whom practiced what they called “double tithing.”  That is, they gave ten percent to the work of their local congregations, and another ten percent to missionary work – mostly to the work of Christ among the poor. Such freedom is infectious, and is at the heart of the small independent society’s capacity to support upwards of fifty full time missionaries – more than The Episcopal Church..

 

Like many others, I find it refreshing and instructive to go on a spiritual retreat from time to time. I need not go far. I usually going to a Trappist monastery near Bardstown. The accommodations are simple and spare: single rooms, each with a bed, chair, desk. and no more.

 

There is a spacious church, a chapel, a well stocked library, and extensive grounds with miles of trails which you may walk at any speed you might chose. A few places are set aside for the rare conversation: a reception area, some small rooms of two or three chairs, the chaplain’s office, and a gift shop.

 

At such monasteries, the labor that sustains community life is carried out with quiet dignity, out of sight from the curious.

 

Are such simple surroundings enough? Well, they are more than much of the world possesses. It takes little imagination to surmise one could live well for a long time without the clutter most of us accumulate.

What more could anyone want: add a second chair for visitors, perhaps a few books, a computer connected to the internet, some recordings — yet all these are in areas available to community –no one need claim them for their own.

 

One visitor, pondering these matters asked himself “If I knew that everyone in the world would have enough if I had only this much, would this be enough for me?”  The answer was a clear “yes.”

 

The world and TV has the corner on the seven deadly sins: Pride, greed, gluttony, sloth, jealosy, envy, lust.

 

But a life committed to Jesus has the corner on the seven fruits of the spirit” Love joy, peace, longsuffering, patience, goodness, self-control.

 

The scriptures commend life of faith and faithfulness as  the best game in town.

The Diocesan Covenant – St. Agnes’ House (sermon) March 1, 2015

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Sermon – March 1, 2015

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, Somerset, KY

Second Sunday in Lent Year B

“I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.”  Genesis 17:7

Please be seated.

Good Morning, people of St. Patrick’s.  It is so good to see you in person.  Prior to this, I had only seen you through a green business check that arrived every month at St. Agnes’ House… a check dutifully given for $75.00, enough to support 1 large room and a small room for 1 night at St. Agnes’ House.  Feeling grateful for your consistent donation, I’d smile as I recorded your donation in my donor spreadsheet and print out our thank you note.  I wondered about you and who you are.  Now I get the chance to find out.

That consistency…that faithfulness is a hallmark of the ministry of St. Agnes’ House.  More than 40 years ago, a young couple became distressed when they saw people sleeping in the waiting room of UK hospital.  These people often came from Eastern Kentucky and they were getting cancer radiation treatments.  They’d need to be at the hospital every week day for about 6 weeks.  They had no place and no money to pay for a place to stay.  Can you imagine feeling so poorly and then needing to rest in the hospital waiting room?

This young couple told others at St. John’s Versailles, and groups started praying for a solution – some way for people to have a place to stay while receiving treatment.  By 1975, St. Agnes’ House was born.  The Diocese embraced the ministry, providing administrative and nonprofit tax number support.  Parishes offered prayers, money, and in-kind donations.  The Sisters from the Society of St. Margaret agreed to come and live at the house and manage it.

The first house was on Woodland Avenue, but by 1977, the University of Kentucky provided a rent-free ($1.00) longterm lease at 635 Maxwelton Court, closer to UK hospital.  Money was raised to put an addition onto this house, so rooms could be used for lodging.  An additional building with 7 rooms, kitchen, living room, and bathrooms was also built.  Currently, there are 9 rooms available for lodging – 5 single rooms and 4 double rooms.

In essence, in 1975, 40 years ago, we as a Diocese… a Diocese now in about 36 ministry sites or locations… made a covenant with people in medical crisis, needing to travel long distances to get the health care they needed, making the difference between life and death…between hope and despair…between a death with dignity and loved ones and a death all alone.

Now covenants are very special.  They can be different from contracts, especially if they are unconditional.  That’s the kind God makes with us – unconditional covenants.  The covenants detail obligations and promises between the parties.  And unconditional covenants like the ones God makes with us, say that God will fulfill God’s obligations and promises, regardless of what we do… regardless, God will fulfill the covenant.

What an amazing thing.  We can truly trust God’s covenants…God’s promises.

And that’s what over 4,000 families have been able to do because of your help and your support of St. Agnes’ House.  They’ve been able to trust in the covenant we made with them back in 1975… that they’d have a place to go during a medical crisis.  They’ve had a place to stay while their mother or father or young baby is getting the best health care possible.  And families have been able to be close to their loved one if there is nothing more to be done and death comes.

I’m talking about people like Marcy, mid 50s, tall with long dark hair.  Marcy’s brother had a heart operation.  There were complications and he was brought to UK hospital.  Marcy promised her brother, she’d be there with him.  We didn’t see Marcy much, because she’d get up so very early in the morning to go be with her brother at the hospital and she’d arrive back at the house late in the evening.  She was able to take the UK hospital shuttle back and forth any time she needed it.

Marcy wrote to us months after her stay and here’s what she said:

 Where do I begin??

 It’s been months now and I can hardly find the words to express how thankful I am that I got to go to St. Agnes’ House.

 My brother spent 55 days in ICU after open-heart surgery due to septic shock. I, having had open-heart myself two years before, was getting worn down fast staying in the chairs every night at U.K., but I promised I would be there for him and we would go home together. We thought it would be 2 weeks tops.

 I got my room here after that initial two weeks and met the nicest most helpful caring staff, who sincerely care for you and your loved one who is in the hospital. I was then able to shuttle back and forth and wash my clothes; eat real food; sleep when I could; and be there every day for him. Rebecca, Reynold and Mary are wonderful people.

 Anyone who can donate to St. Agnes house, please do. It’s really even more than you can imagine.

 I did get to bring Michael home and he’s across the field from Mom laid to rest. I have done all he asked me to do. I don’t know if I could have made it without your help.

 On a personal note, my 92 year old Mother has Michael’s prayer shawl that was a gift Rebecca offered when she saw my despair and it was on him the last days.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

 So many years ago, God made a covenant with Abraham and Sarah that they would be “ancestors of a multitude of nations.”  That God would always be with them and with their descendants.  God has kept God’s covenant and we are the proof.  And as Marcy and so many others can testify, we have followed God’s example by providing and supporting the ministry of St. Agnes’ House.

Amen

The Sign of the Rainbow (bulletin and sermon) February 22, 2015

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NOTE:  Due to weather conditions, the bulletin is included with this sermon if you’d like to worship at home tomorrow.  We will have service at 11 for all who can make it.  Please be safe and warm….  Love, Rebecca+

Sermon – February 22, 2015
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
First Sunday in Lent Year B

Bulletin 2-22-2015

[God said]  When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” Genesis 9:16

Please be seated

It’s been quite a week, hasn’t it?  More snow than has been in these regions for nearly 2 decades, followed by some of the coldest temperatures we’ve seen, followed by ice, sleet and rain.  Most schools were closed for the week, including colleges.  Stores and restaurants closed early or never opened.

Many activities were canceled or postponed.  We canceled our Shrove Tuesday pancake supper and still can’t quite figure out when to have it.  Very few could make it to Ash Wednesday services.   A good week to stay inside, but then there’s the cabin fever that sets in.

And while weather forecasts have gotten so much better, the one thing we know for certain is that the weather is unpredictable!  The forecast has been pretty accurate this week.  But remember just last month when a HUGE snowstorm was predicted for the East Coast?  New York City shut down the subway system and New York declared a State of Emergency before even one snowflake fell, based upon the best weather models.  Then something happened and the storm shifted east about 50 miles, totally missing New York City and pounding Long Island and New England instead.

My friends in that region blew up my Facebook page with their rants about the storm that never happened.  There were the usual jokes about how can meterologists keep their jobs when they’re wrong 50% of the time?  There were very real concerns that the next time a storm was predicted, people would not heed the warning and then get caught in some difficult situations.

But, you see, the nature of the weather is to be unpredictable.  There are just too many variables at work and the best science we have today cannot account for all of them and make a certain prediction.

We must learn to live with the weather we get and with the unpredictability of it.  Yet, most of us don’t like that unpredictability.  We feel anxious or we want to totally ignore the forecasts.  A good practice is to have an emergency kit with water, food you can eat without warming it up, candles, space blankets…things you might need if you didn’t have electricity for many days and were stranded.  Ready.gov (http://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit) has suggestions and lists for what you need to be prepared.  I’ll copy the lists and have them available in the parlor.

Midst all of the unpredictability of the weather which affects our lives, today we hear God’s words to Noah after a weather event that wiped out nearly all life on the earth.  We know the story.  In Genesis 6:11-13, God says:

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth. And God said to Noah, ‘I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth.’

And we know how God told Noah to build the ark and to take 2 of every creature plus Noah’s family and put them on the ark.  We know how it rained for 40 days and 40 nights and how eventually there was dry land.

In our passage today, we hear that after the flood, God decided to make a covenant with Noah and with all of Noah’s descendants.  Now, a covenant is a special kind of agreement.  It is a binding commitment between two or more parties.  It describes each party’s obligations and responsibilities.  It has the quality of constancy and durability.

And here’s the important piece…the covenant we hear about today is unconditional!  God says what God will do in regards to us with no consequences or action on our part – NONE!  Most of us cannot make a covenant like that, can we?

In verse 11, God tells Noah:  “I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

And so we’ll know and remember this promise and obligation of God, God gives us a sign.  A sign is the “visible evidence of the presence and purpose of God.” (Understanding the Old Testament 5th Edition; Anderson, Bishop & Newman; pg 68)  God’s sign to us is the rainbow!

 

Every time we see the beautiful rainbow, and you see lots of them at Cumberland Falls, we remember God’s promise to not destroy the earth and every creature on earth by water.  God’s promise to us is to save us…save us from ourselves.

 

This is God’s activity throughout the ages.  God comes to earth as Jesus to save us.  “…repent, and believe in the good news,” (Mark 1:15) we hear in today’s Gospel.  Repent – turn around and believe in the good news that God saves us…that living God’s way saves us.

 

In today’s Epistle we hear in I Peter 3:18, “Christ suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God.”  God made a covenant with Noah …a covenant with no conditions…a promise durable and lasting.  God will not destroy us by water and God always, always acts to save us.

 

During this season of Lent, remember, think on and meditate on God’s saving actions.  While we cannot predict the weather… we can predict God’s saving action!  We can trust in God’s saving actions.  Remember the covenant every time you see the beautiful rainbow.

 

Amen

Powerful and Awe-Inspiring Moments (Sermon) February 15, 2015

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Sermon – February 15, 2015

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

The Last Sunday After Epiphany, Year B

The Transfiguration

And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Mark 9:2-4

 Please be seated.

The church I grew up in had changed radically by the early 60s.  It was in a city, whose neighborhoods were changing, really disappearing from around the church.  The church was right downtown, close to the state capitol and office buildings for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  The many neighborhoods, especially the predominantly African-American neighborhoods that had once been there, were being swallowed up by the needs of state government and urban renewal plans.  There was not much neighborhood around the church by the early 1960s.

But the church called a new pastor in 1963 and he challenged those there to revitalize the church.  My father heard this Pastor on the radio one Sunday and soon after, started attending.  By 1966, my mother converted from Roman Catholicism and we all started attending.

As I neared Junior High School a couple of years later – 7th Grade – I became very excited, because I’d be able to participate in the church youth group activities.  The church had called an Assistant Pastor and he focused on youth and young married couples.  There were a number of other adults who also assisted with the youth group and they seemed fun to be around.

So I was glad when it came time for me to join this group of 7th – 12th graders.  Now for the first 3 years, I attended confirmation classes prior to the youth group meetings.  Our Youth Group addressed many of the issues of the day such as the Vietnam War, the War on Poverty and Civil Rights.  We formed a singing group which performed songs with many of the themes of our time interspersed with written words and poems… songs like Blowin’ in the Wind or If I Had a Hammer.

We explored our faith and how it led us to take action.  We explored our belief in God.  Those were the days when Time Magazine had a cover story, Is God Dead?  There was a lot of questioning about belief in God and the place of the church.  I had gone to church as long as I could remember.  I wanted to believe in God.  I loved the story of Jesus Christ.  But I didn’t feel my belief deep in my soul and heart.

My best friend at the time and I would often go into the sanctuary in the evenings when it was dark, except for the Sanctuary light, which burned to let us know God was in this place.  We’d talk and share the deepest concerns of our 12-year old lives, including how we understood God.  We’d talk to God there.

Our youth group also went on retreats about twice a year.  Weekends away where we’d have fun and deepen our faith.  In the fall of my 8th grade year, we went to a retreat house just outside a small Pennsylvania town.  On Sunday morning, we had our church service, which was very free-form.  I remember the day was cold and late fall and very sunny.  We started saying The Lord’s Prayer and I started crying…tears streaming down my face.  Because I knew…I finally knew that God was real…that God was with me and in me.  I knew it deep in my soul.  I had experienced transfiguration.

In today’s Gospel Reading, we hear about Jesus’ transfiguration or being changed into something beautiful.  Jesus and the Disciples had left the region around the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus took Peter, James and John with him up Mt. Tabor.

Mt. Tabor rises almost 1900 feet out of the Jezreel Valley.  It’s a steep climb up to the top. It’s understandable that not everyone made the climb.  But what happened on that mountain was crucial for the Disciples.  It was an experience both powerful and scary.  So powerful that Peter wanted to make monuments there.  And many paintings depict the disciples falling down part of the mountain in fear.  I mean, what would you do if you saw Moses and Elijah speaking to Jesus and then heard a voice from heaven confirming that Jesus was beloved and should be listened to?

But, you see, God knew what was coming when those disciples walked down that mountain.  They were setting off to Jerusalem and to another mount – Calvary.  God knew that the disciples would be very confused by the way salvation was going to come to them.  They were expecting a restoration of the Davidic Kingdom and being freed from the Romans.  But that wasn’t going to be how things worked out.  God knew it would be a hard road for all of them.  So, God gave them this powerful and awe-inspiring and unforgettable moment…a moment to hang on to when life got confusing and challenging.

What are those moments for you?  What are those times when you’ve felt peace or joy, especially in the community of God?  Or those times when amazing “coincidences” happened? Those times when you are filled with awe?  Those times when you experience a power beyond yourself?  I hope you’ve had them.  God gives them to us to hang on to when life is difficult and hard.

I’ve forgotten plenty of things in my life, but I’ve never forgotten that moment when I was 13, on that retreat, saying The Lord’s Prayer.  I can picture it just as clearly as if it happened yesterday.  Yes, since then, I’ve had tough and challenging times in my life…times when I didn’t feel so close to God, but that experience at 13 has kept me close to God at the same time…sometimes just by a thread, but nonetheless unshakeable in my belief in God.

Hold on…hold on to those moments of transfiguration – powerful and awe-inspiring.  They comfort you on the journeys through the valleys of difficult and challenging times.

Amen

Find the Current of God (sermon) February 8, 2015

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Sermon – February 8, 2015
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
The Fifth Sunday After Epiphany, Year B
Observance of African-American History Month

but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

 Please be seated

I love the prairie.  I saw the tall grass prairie for the first time in 1994, in late April, after my husband had accepted a job in Topeka, KS.  I had visited Chicago as a teenager and I decided then that I did not really like flat ground, so I wasn’t all that excited about the prospect of living in a place so flat.

But even on that first trip, I loved the expanse of the sky.  The view was overwhelming.  You could see so far into the distance.  It’s not that trees cannot grow in Kansas, it’s that you have tall grasses, which easily catch on fire, especially during a thunder and lightening storm, creating new tender grass shoots, which attract large hoofed animals that massage the earth.  It’s just not conducive to trees.

So the grasses grow up to 8 feet tall during the summer.  And the wind NEVER stops blowing.  NEVER!  There is always wind.  So the earth warms up and the heat rises and the wind blows, creating the most wonderful air currents.

Raptors like hawks and eagles LOVE the Kansas prairie.  And because the vista is so expansive, you can watch the hawks and eagles catch the breeze and ride the currents.  They save themselves plenty of energy by doing that.

And in today’s Old Testament reading, the prophet Isaiah reminds us that when we are doing God’s work, we’ll find those air currents and be lifted high like the eagle… the eagle representing St. John.  We won’t get weary nor be faint when we catch that current that God provides.

Later this week, on Friday, we’ll remember Absalom Jones, the first African-American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church.  Absalom Jones knew what it meant to find those currents from God that raise the eagles in flight.  Listen to the biography of Jones available on the website of African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia, the church Jones founded:

 The life and legacy of The Reverend Absalom Jones is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, his faith, and his commitment to the causes of freedom, justice and self-determination.

 Absalom Jones was born into slavery in Sussex County, Delaware on November 6, 1746. During the 72 years of his life, he grew to become one of the foremost leaders among persons of African descent during the post-revolutionary period. In his younger years in Delaware, Absalom sought help to learn to read. When he was 16, his owner Benjamin Wynkoop brought him to Philadelphia where he served as a clerk and handyman in a retail store. He was able to work for himself in the evenings and keep his earnings. He also briefly attended a school run by the Quakers where he learned mathematics and handwriting. In 1770, he married Mary Thomas and purchased her freedom. It was until 1784 that he obtained his own freedom through manumission. He also owned several properties.

 During this period, he met Richard Allen, who became a life-long friend. In 1787 they organized the Free African Society as a social, political and humanitarian organization helping widows and orphans and assisting in sick relief and burial expenses. Jones and Allen were also lay preachers at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, PA where their evangelistic efforts met with great success and their congregation multiplied ten-fold. As a result, racial tensions flared and ultimately they led an historic walk out from St. George’s.

 In 1792, under the dual leadership of Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, “The African Church” was organized as a direct outgrowth of the Free African Society. Both Jones and Allen wished to affiliate with the Methodists, but the majority of the congregation favored the Episcopal Church. Richard Allen withdrew with a part of the congregation to found Bethel Church (later, Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church). The African Church became The African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas with Absalom Jones as its Lay Reader and Deacon. In 1802, Jones was ordained by Bishop William White as the first African American Episcopal Priest.

 During the severe yellow fever epidemic of 1793, Absalom Jones and Richard Allen mobilized the Black community to care for the afflicted. In 1797 and 1799 Absalom Jones, with other free Africans, presented tenable petitions to Congress and to the President of the United States opposing slavery. Two schools and supportive services for the Black community developed under his leadership.

 Absalom Jones died on February 13, 1818 at his residence, 32 Powell Street, Philadelphia, PA. Tributes and accounts of his funeral appeared in several periodicals. The Episcopal Bishop, William White, spoke of Jones’ devotion and care of his congregation and of his many contributions to the life of the city. The February 13th Absalom Jones Feast Day was added to the Episcopal Church Calendar in 1973. His ashes are enshrined in the altar of the Reverend Absalom Jones Chapel of the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, and a memorial stained glass window commemorates his life and work.

http://www.aecst.org/ajones.htm

 What this biography fails to mention is the trials Absalom Jones went through to get his church recognized by The Episcopal Church.  He was denied admission to General Theological Seminary, for instance.  There was also some opposition to the church being fully recognized by the Diocese.

Can you imagine…here were many people drawn to The Episcopal Church and its understanding of faith in Jesus Christ, rejected only because of the color of their skin.

But Absalom and the members of St. Thomas under his cure, persevered.  He and they read St. Paul’s letters, including the portion we read today from the first letter to the Corinthians, “If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!” 1 Cor. 9:16

They only wanted to proclaim the Gospel, just like Jesus did and we heard in our Gospel lesson today:  “And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.” Mark 1:39

Even though The Episcopal Church of their day segregated them, they caught the winds and flew like eagles even into the current day.  Many Dioceses in the country celebrate Absalom Jones Day with special services and special offerings for the Historically Black College of The Episcopal Church, St. Augustine’s in Raleigh, NC.

When we become weary and tired as we usually do, let us remember the perseverance of Absalom Jones…let us remember how the eagles find the current and rise, saving their energy.  Let us rest, find the current of God, and rise like the eagles.

Amen

Going Where God Calls (Sermon) January 25, 2015

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Sermon – January 25, 2015

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

The Third Sunday After Epiphany, Year B

The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Jonah 3:1-3a

Please be seated.

When I was a child, I perfected the art of whining and complaining.  I truly tried the patience of my parents.  So, I know I’m good at it.  So, I apologize for the whining you’ll hear me do in this sermon today.

I find it hard to be Executive Director of St. Agnes’ House.  I really don’t like, almost hate, raising money.  And while we ended in the year in much better shape than I ever imagined, it’s a new year and we have to start all over again raising the $107,000 budget.  Yes, we have a good start with grants of $21,500, but the one grant for $7,500 ends this year, so we’ll have to replace that amount.  The fundraising consultant says we can raise the same amount of money and even more with only two mailings a year, but I’m nervous about that.  We mailed to people four times a year last year, but that angered some of my colleagues.

I also don’t like being responsible for buildings.  There’s always something in need of repair or painting at St. Agnes’ House.  There are a couple of windows that are pulling out of the window frames.  Are the frames rotten or has the caulking just dried out?  Of course these windows are about the hardest to reach.  And it’s a small job, so who can we get to do it?

Seems like it’s just very hard to keep the place open and running well.

In our Old Testament Lesson today we hear a portion of the story of Jonah.  We have a great wall hanging of this story in the Godly Play Room.  The Book of Jonah is not a true story in its facts.  Rather, it is a story designed to communicate to us important understandings about God.

Earlier in the story, God had called Jonah to go to Nineveh and deliver a message to the people there.  Nineveh was the last place Jonah wanted to go.  Nineveh was the capitol of Assyria and the Assyrians did not believe in the God of the Israelites.  The Assyrians were also mean and cruel.  They were a huge empire and known at that time for conquering everyone they could and demanding taxes or tribute from them.  Nineveh was one of the largest cities at that time with possibly 150,000 people.

We certainly understand Jonah, don’t we?  Most of us would not relish the task God has asked Jonah to do.  From Jonah’s self-centered point of view, he did not think he really wanted to do what God asked.  We know Jonah ended up in the belly of a whale for three days, so guess God convinced Jonah that delivering God’s message to the people of Nineveh was a lot better than the belly of the whale.  But I don’t think Jonah was all that thrilled with God’s call to him.

Aren’t we all like Jonah?  We get caught up in our own personal view of things.  What God asks us to do starts to feel burdensome and personally, we don’t want to do it.  Think about those mornings when coming to church on a Sunday just feels so hard to do and we’re not sure we’ll get anything out of it personally.

Now, certainly, there is a balance to all of this.  We do need to take care of ourselves and think about ourselves to a certain extent.  But when God calls, we also need to think about others.  God needed a message to get to the Ninevites, even though the people of Nineveh did not believe in God!  God, like Jonah, didn’t really like the Ninevites all that much.  God wanted to destroy them.  But God chose Jonah to carry that message to the people and to give them a chance to change their ways.

And God chooses us.  God hears our complaints and whining, I dare say.  Luckily, I don’t know anyone who’s ended up in the belly of a whale, but from our story, we also know that God keeps calling us.  God tells us we are of value.  God tells us that our community needs us and needs our presence.  Maybe we don’t feel like going, but the community needs us to go.  In Jonah’s case, the Ninevites paid heed to what Jonah said and changed their ways.

The same is true of St. Agnes’ House.  After all of my self-centered whining, then, I meet the guests.  Recently and older woman who was pretty scared to be in Lexington by herself, but wanted to be by the side of her middle-aged son who needed a heart transplant reserved a room.  She “slept” in the hospital for over two months.  Finally, she was willing to venture out and check out St. Agnes’ House.  She wasn’t sure she was going to sleep there at night, but she needed a place to go each day away from the hospital.  She needed a place that was quiet where she could take a nap, or read a book or knit.  Her room at St. Agnes’ House was perfect, she told me.

As she registered and toured the house, we talked about her situation and she confided that she thought her son was dying.  She was grateful for a lap quilt that had been made and donated to the house.  It was the perfect thing for sitting in a chair in the afternoon.  She thought she might return the quilt when she left, but I told her it was hers to take if she wanted.  She kept thanking me and told me she felt so much better that day.  I didn’t see her much after that, until one day, we passed each other in our vehicles.  We stopped and she told me her son had died and she was coming to check out.  She told me how much she appreciated her room at the House and she said she was going to keep the quilt.

That’s why we go when God calls.  God really doesn’t want to hear our self-centered whining.  God has chosen us and our community needs us or at least needs to hear the message God has asked us to bring to the community.

May we, like Jonah, set out to go where God calls us.  In doing so, we may bring life and salvation.

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Follow Me (sermon) January 18, 2015

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Sermon – January 18, 2015

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

The Second Sunday After Epiphany, Year B

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ John 1:43

Please be seated

Every week, you sit in this space and worship in the midst of this beautiful stained glass window of John, the Gospel writer.  This year we’ll hear quite a bit from John’s Gospel.  On Friday, we had a clergy day in Lexington.  The presenter was Gail O’Day, Dean of Wake Forest Divinity School.  She was in town for the ordination of one of her students, Andrew Hege, the new Associate Rector at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church.

Dr. O’Day is also a New Testament scholar and has written much commentary on the Gospel of John.  Also a Professor of Preaching, she was helping us look at the Gospel in new ways.  She said that the Gospelwriter wanted to emphasize the extravagant love of God for us.  She also said that during Jesus’ time, the religious authorities wanted to silence Jesus, because his teachings and upheaval they were creating amongst the Jewish people, were causing the Roman occupiers to take more notice.  The authorities didn’t want any scrutiny from Rome.  They wanted to be left alone.  John is writing to say that there is a cost to remaining silent…that there is a cost to rejecting the teaching of Jesus, God incarnate.

 

And this weekend we remember The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who certainly embodied the point John was making.  Just like Samuel, God called Dr. King’s name and set a mission for him.  Just like Philip and Nathanael, Jesus called Dr. King to follow him.

In 1956, after the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dr. King left Montgomery.  He said, “History has thrust something on me which I cannot turn away.”  Dr. King was well educated, graduated from high school early.  He was to be a great preacher like his father, most likely at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where his father was pastor.  That was the life laid out for him and the life he expected.

While I’m sure he thought he’d be part of a movement for justice, he never expected to be a major leader in that movement to the point where he was away from his family and congregation for long periods of time and in so many cities in the United States.  A role that meant his home was bombed and death threats surrounded him.  It seems like the prudent thing to do would have been to remain silent, but Dr. King could not turn away from his calling.

That’s not the life he planned, but it was the life God called him to and just like Samuel, Dr. King said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”  And just like Philip and Nathanael, he responded to Jesus’ call by following Jesus.

And he knew that following that call could mean he would die relatively young.  He knew that following that call could mean being murdered.

I still remember when Dr. King was assassinated, even though I was only 10 years old, how he had seemingly foretold his death.  Over and over again, the news played excerpts from his speech the night before.  He said,

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life.  Longevity has its place.  But I’m not concerned about that now.  I just want to do God’s will.  

I just want to do God’s Will.  I just want to follow Jesus.  I just want to serve God.  That’s what we all need to be saying and figuring out.

Because not doing God’s Will…not following Jesus…not serving God, has consequences.  We heard that in our reading from Samuel.  Eli had not stopped his sons from disrespecting and speaking against God, so God told Samuel, Eli’s family would be destroyed.

So, there are consequences for ignoring God’s Will. We may try to ignore God’s calling to us out of fear of what will be required of us.  It’s probably not in our life plan.  And look what happened to Dr. King and who wants a short life and a death like his?  What could be worse than the consequence of death?

But here’s the paradox:  when you are doing God’s Will and when you are following Jesus and when you are serving God, death doesn’t frighten you anymore.  Death has no power over you.  The night before he died, Dr. King ended his speech by saying,

[God’s] allowed me to go up to the mountain.  And I’ve looked over.  And I’ve seen the promised land.  I may not get there with you.  But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land.  And I’m happy, tonight.  I’m not worried about anything.  I’m not fearing any man.  Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.  

I’m happy…I’m not worried…I’m not fearing anyone!

Follow me, Jesus says and St. John writes.  The following may not be easy.  We may even lose our life, but we will know the abundant love of God.  We’ll be happy.  We won’t worry and we won’t be afraid.

Amen

 

This Sunday (January 18, 2015) at St. John’s

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LORD, you have searched me out and known me; *
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar. Psalm 139:1

I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I’m thrilled that God knows all of my thoughts!  And yet, at the same time, it’s a comfort that God knows all about us.  What a loving God who takes such care that even the most common actions of our lives are known to God.  In other words, God is always with us.

And God is with us when we gather together as the community of St. John’s….

Love, Rebecca+

Rebecca’s Schedule: Rev. Rebecca will at St. John’s Corbin Wednesday, January 21 through Friday, January 23. Her Sabbath day will be Monday, January 19 and Tuesday, January 20. You can get a message to her by calling the church office at 606-528-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org

Adult Forum: In January through mid-February (Christmas and Epiphany), we will discuss the blessing of same gender relationships.  Next week, Rebecca will be reviewing Theology and the Bible:  How the Episcopal Church develops its theology.

Godly Play offered for children.  All children are invited to participate in this special program of spiritual development.

Youth Group Bowling.  The youth ages 13-18 will go bowling Sunday afternoon, January 18, 1-3pm at Forest Bowling Lanes, Corbin.  Please see Rev. Rebecca if you’d like to go.

The Diocesan Stewardship Commission is offering an update on their work prior to Diocesan Convention.  Join Rebecca on Tuesday, January 20, at 7pm at St. Mary’s in Middlesboro to hear this update.  We can ride together and leave about 5 so we can eat dinner together.  The Bishop is also offering scholarships for teams from parishes to attend The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (www.tens.org) conference in Texas in May.  Please let Rebecca know if you’re interested in either of these events, as well as assisting with stewardship at St. John’s.

Pot Luck Sunday:  Next Sunday, January 25th, after the 11:00 service is our monthly pot luck meal.  Bring a dish or drink to share.  And all are welcome!  Plan on a time of fellowship with each other.

Weekday Morning Eucharist will be available Wednesday, January 21, 9am, in the Sanctuary.

Daughters of the King meets the third Wednesday of each month at 4:30pm.  The next meeting is January 21st.  If you have special prayer requests or would like to join this prayer ministry, please contact Shelia Phillips.

Ordination: Your prayers and presence are requested at the ordination to the Priesthood of Kate Byrd, Saturday, January 24, 2pm at Christ Church Cathedral.

Reading Camp Meeting, January 21, 10am.  This meeting will be with people in Corbin interested in helping children read.  We will look into recruiting children from Corbin for the Pine Mountain Camp, as well as connecting them to the local programs supporting reading during the school year.  We will also discuss raising money to support the children and the camp.  If you’d like to be part of this, please let Rebecca know.

Grow Appalachia Committee, January 21, 6:30pm.  The Grow Appalachia Committee will meet Wednesday after the evening service to talk about plans for the garden this summer.

Worship Committee will meet Friday, January 23, 4:30pm to plan Lent, Holy Week, and Easter.  All are welcome!

Game Night, Friday, January 30, 6:30-9:00pm.  Everyone is invited to Game night on Friday, January 30, hosted by the Young Adults of the parish.  Pizza will be provided.  Bring snacks and your own drinks.

The annual Acolyte Festival will be held Saturday, January 31, 10am – 3:30pm at Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington

Provide Flowers for the altar in honor or in memory of a loved one: 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.

 

 

 

 

 

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Born Saying God’s Name (Sermon) January 11, 2015

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Sermon – January 11, 2015

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

The First Sunday After Epiphany:  The Baptism of the Lord

Year B

And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.11And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ Mark 1:10-11

Please Be Seated

Yesterday, my son, Scot, turned 40!  Where did the time go?  Naturally, at this time, I recall the day he was born and many other memories over the years.  His son, Logan, is so much like him that I often call him Scot instead of Logan!  It’s like I’m seeing my son grow up all over again, sort of.

But even in remembering, there’s so much we forget.  I don’t think too many, if any, of us remember the day we were born.  As adults, we talk about how traumatic it must be for a child to be born after nine months in a comfortable place with all of their needs met.  We make jokes about how a baby cries when it’s born.  Of course it’s important for a baby to cry at birth as a sign their lungs are cleared out and working well, but it seems to resonate with the trauma of being born into the world.  But none of us remembers that trauma, at least not overtly.

Sinead O’Connor in her recording from 1995, had a song that suggested babies are also born in spiritual trauma.  The words are:

 

All babies are born saying God’s name
Over and over,
All born singing God’s name
All babies are flown from the Universe
From there they’re lifted by the hands of angels
God gives them the stars to use as ladders
She hears their calls
She is mother and father
All babies are born out of great pain
Over and over
All born into great pain
All babies are crying
For no-one remembers God’s name

 

All Babies, Sinead O’Connor

 

“All babies are crying for no one remembers God’s name.”  It’s like when we’re born, a process of forgetting God ensues.  We’re born into a world that values what we can see with our eyes and touch with our hands or physical selves over what we can see with our hearts and touch with our spirits.  A world that discounts intuition and a sixth sense.  A world that in many places and in many ways is uncomfortable with, even afraid of, mystery and of unknowing.

 

We are born into this world with strong connections to God and our own spirits.  We don’t have a way to communicate with words for awhile, so we are very connected to our bodies and to what we experience in them.  But, it seems like as we grow older, we’re taught to ignore our bodies and hearts in favor of passing the standardized math and reading tests.  We forget how to read ourselves and each other.

 

Many times, we begin to accept this “vain” world’s assessment of us.  We’re not pretty.  We’re not smart.  We think funny.  We dress funny.  We don’t make enough money.  We aren’t good enough.  We forget that God created our diversity and that the norm is diversity rather than conformity.

 

That’s why renewing our baptismal vows is important.  Those of us baptized as children may only have a photograph of the event, but in a very real sense, that baptism was telling our spirits to remember where we came from…to remember God’s name.  As we got older and once again surrendered to the world’s assessment of us, renewing our baptismal vows reminds us that in the waters of baptism, we died to the world’s view of us and were returned or reborn to God’s view of us.

 

And God’s view of us is that we were perfectly created.  No, we are not God.  We are not perfect in that we know everything or can do everything or see everything.  We are perfect in the part of the body of Christ that we are.  We are perfect in our humanity.  We don’t have every talent, but we have talent…talent necessary for the world.  We don’t possess all knowledge, but we possess knowledge that is necessary for the world.  We don’t have all intelligence, but we have intelligence that is necessary for the world.  We don’t have all understanding of God, but we have understanding of God that is necessary for the world.

 

When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the heavens were torn apart, so the Holy Spirit could break in and the voice of God could confirm that Jesus was a child of God, beloved of God and that God was pleased.

 

And we need those same reminders.  When we renew our baptismal vows…when we feel the water sprinkled on us, God is breaking through to us…recalling to us what we knew when we were born…reminding us of God’s name.  God is reminding us that the Holy Spirit is right with us.  God is reminding us that we are beloved children and that God is well pleased with us.  Then we are prepared to go into the world in peace to love and to serve God.

 

Amen