Category Archives: Rev. Rebecca’s Reflections

In Dialogue with Jesus (sermon) March 30, 2014

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Sermon – March 30, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
Fourth Sunday in Lent

I have told you already, and you would not listen. John 9:27

Please be seated.

The physical act of seeing is a tricky thing.  When I was on the School Board in Harrisburg, a man came to give us a presentation about quality improvement.  Part of the presentation was a movie.  I can’t remember the name of the movie, but I have never forgotten one of the parts of that movie.  It showed a person dealing cards very quickly.  The action happened twice and we were told to look very carefully.  It was just a hand dealing cards.  Then they slowed down the action and it turned out all of the colors of each suit were reversed, so the hearts and diamonds were black and the spades and clubs were red!  It was astounding to know that I refused to see the reality, because it conflicted with all of my experience and belief. 

We see that in our Gospel story today, don’t we?  Jesus challenges the worldview of an entire community by healing a man who was blind from birth.  The people in the town have a difficult time accepting this miracle.  It does not fit in with what they know.  It conflicts with their experience and belief.  Instead of rejoicing with the man, they debate and work hard to deny what has occurred. 

Yesterday, a group of us gathered in the parish hall for training on Ministry Support Teams.  These are teams set up in Network parishes to support the Priest-in-Charge.  People and priests from Emanuel, Winchester and St. Mary’s, Middlesboro were also at the training.  One piece of the training was about the difference between debate and dialogue.   

Now, just in the words, there is a fundamental difference.  The word “debate” comes from a French word meaning to fight or to beat down.  Dialogue goes back to Latin and Greek meaning to “speak through” or “through words.” 

The goal of debate is to win against your opponent.  In a debate, when you listen, it is only to counter what the other person says, to find the weakness in the argument, especially so you can discount and devalue it.  In debate, you make assumptions about another person’s experience and motivations.  At the very beginning of the Gospel, the disciples, speaking in the worldview of their time, ask Jesus, “who sinned, this man or his parents….?”  The assumption was that sin was the cause of the man’s blindness.  Because Jesus healed on the Sabbath, some discounted the healing, saying it was not from God.

In debate you ask questions to trip up your opponent or confuse them on the issue.  This happened to Jesus a lot.  In debate, you interrupt the other speaker or change the subject.  You are not concerned about the person, but only about your next point.  You deny the other person’s experience, saying it is distorted or invalid.  Look at our story today where people continually ask the man who had been blind how he was healed.  He had to keep telling them the story.  His parents were called in to authenticate his identity.  When the man insists on what occurred…on his experience, they drive him out of the town. 

Why do we insist on debate, instead of dialogue?  Kathryn Schulz studied why we as humans insist that our way of looking at things is right…why we have such trouble admitting when we are wrong.  She wrote a book, Being Wrong.  She also has a TED talk online.  One of the things she says is that early in life, we internalize that “getting something wrong means there’s something wrong with us. So we just insist that we’re right, because it makes us feel smart and responsible and virtuous and safe.”  (http://www.ted.com/talks/kathryn_schulz_on_being_wrong/transcript)  She says we live in this “tiny, terrified space of rightness.”  Our love of debate is about being in this “tiny, terrified space of rightness.” 

Where we need to be, and truly where we have tremendous capacity to be…where Jesus calls us to be…is in dialogue.  The goal of dialogue is an increased understanding of ourselves and of others.  When we listen, we’re trying to understand the other person.  We listen for strengths to affirm the other person and to learn.  We speak from our own experience and understanding, rather than from the assumptions we’ve made about others.  We ask questions to increase understanding.  We allow others to complete their communications.  We concentrate on the other person’s words and feelings.  We accept others’ experiences as real and valid for them.  We respect and are open to how the other person expresses their real feelings and how we express our feelings as a way of understanding and catharsis.

In our Gospel today, the man who had been blind is engaging in dialogue, while those around him are engaging in debate.  The man’s experience is so powerful, he is thrust out of the “tiny, terrified space of rightness,” probably the space he had been living in, to a new place.  That’s the power of dialogue.  Dialogue can transform us.  Dialogue makes us grow.  Dialogue changes everyone who is involved in the discussion.  It opens us up. 

In dialogue we honor our own experiences as valid; we trust others to respect our differences; we trust ourselves to be able to hear different points of view; we open ourselves up to the pain of others, as well as the pain we feel ourselves; we see Christ in others. 

When we are in dialogue, we can grow.  We can agree to disagree – to know that we can look at the same facts or situation and come to different conclusions or slightly different places, yet still be in community together…to still be in communion with each other.

That’s what Jesus asks.  We come with our assumptions about life.  With the way things are supposed to be and Jesus says, “consider this.”  Look at the world in a new way.  Don’t debate me, but be in dialogue with me…in connection with me, he pleads.  The man who was blind remains in dialogue with Jesus.  He is open.  Jesus asks him whether he believes in the Son of Man and the man who had been blind, asks a question to learn more.  Receiving an answer, he professes his belief. 

In Ephesians, the writer provides us with the fruits of dialogue, “but now in the Lord you are light.”  We are light to the world.  When we can leave debate behind and engage in dialogue, we are transformed and live as children of the light.

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

This Sunday (March 30) at St. John’s

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Live as children of light– for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.  Ephesians 5:8-9

Do you live as a child of the light?  It sounds so easy, doesn’t it?  It sounds so freeing.  Yet as we live our lives, we find we are plagued by fears and worries…things that snuff out the light.  Things that pull us away from the light of Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit.

What helps you relieve your fears and worries?  This Sunday our Psalm is a favorite or at least one oft heard, Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd.  Reading or saying the Psalms and especially this one often helps relieve our fears.  Sometimes there are hymns or fragments of hymns that calm us and center us back in God.  Prayer is another practice.  Fellowship with each other can provide us with shoulders to lean on and ears to listen to us.

Live as a child of the light and you will experience all that is good and right and true.

Blessings as you finish your week!

Love, Rebecca+

Bulletin 03-30-2014

News & Notes

Rebecca’s Schedule: Next week, Rebecca will be Corbin on Thursday, April 3 and her Sabbath day will be Friday, April 4.  You can get a message to Rebecca by calling 859 -429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Living Compass:

This Sunday at 10:15, and Wednesday (April 2) at 4:00, we continue our series on Living Compass Adult Faith and Wellness, with a session on Systemic Dynamics & Growth:  forming, storming, performing.

Next Sunday (April 6) at 10:15, and Wednesday (April 9) at 4:00, we continue our series on Living Compass Adult Faith and Wellness, with our last session on All Shall be Well. You can find more information about the program, including the Living Compass Assessment at  http://www.livingcompass.org/adult/program.html/

Pot Luck Sunday:  Please join us in the Parish Hall following today’s service for fun (including four square) and fellowship as we partake of a pot luck meal.  All are welcome! 

Passion Play:  First Baptist Church London presents their annual Passion Play April 13 (10am), 14, 15, 17 (7pm).  Call 606-864-4194 for free tickets.  Billy Hibbitts and Amber Pearce are singing in this production.

Altar Guild:  The Altar Guild invites you to attend a meeting, Saturday, April 5, 9am – Noon.  Learn more about this important ministry and how you can assist.  Extra assistance is needed for Holy Week. 

Flowers for the altar:  Donations are being accepted for Easter Flowers until April 13.  Envelopes are available.  Mark whether this is in memoriam or in honor of someone.

Support the Diocesan Ministries online on April 9, as part of Kentucky Gives Day.  Reading Camp, Cathedral Domain and St. Agnes’ House are participating in the Commonwealth-wide online giving day, Kentucky Gives.  Go to http://kygives.razoo.com/story/Episcopal-Diocese-Of-Lexington and give to one or to all three ministries.

Belk Charity Sales Day:  The Belk Charity Sales Day will be Saturday, May 3rd from 6:00am to 10:00am.  Ticket may be purchased for $5 tickets from our ECW, which allow you entrance to the sale and $5 off your purchase.  We are trying to sell 100 tickets, which provides $500 for the church and tremendous savings for you!

We’re buying goats!  The Lazarus at the Gates Adult Forum study has prompted us to purchase goats through Episcopal Relief and Development for families in the Philippines.  Goats provide milk, cheese, and manure for farming.  Donations towards the $80 purchase of each goat can be made through the goat bank in the parish hall or in the offering plate clearly marked ERD goat project.

Palm Sunday Service:  Plan to attend a community-wide Palm Sunday Service, Sunday afternoon, April 13, Grace on the Hill.  The service is sponsored by the Southeast Kentucky Ministerial Alliance and Rebecca will be preaching

Godly Play:  There will be Godly Play classes this Sunday.  If you are interested in assisting with these classes on an occasional basis, please let Anne Day Davis or Dura Anne Price know.  You will observe the classes for 4 sessions and once you have received this training, you may be called upon to assist as you are available.  Let the children deepen your faith!

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

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.

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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Being Seen by Jesus (Sermon) March 23, 2016

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Sermon – March 23, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
Third Sunday in Lent

 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!” John 4:29

Please be seated.

I have talked before about the brief part of my social work career when I was a therapist.  I provided individual therapy for people who had traumatic brain injuries or TBIs.  For the most part, the people had been in rehab and were living independently; however, they often required support or some additional assistance in living with their injury. 

One man, Doug, was in our program because of anger issues, a known result of TBIs.  This man had tried to attack another man at work one day and the diagnosis was inability to control his anger due to his brain injury.  However, over a period of time, I learned that this man was extremely sensitive to people.  He could see people deeply.  He had developed a very low tolerance for people who lied to him.  He felt unsafe when someone was not authentic.  He was afraid he would be harmed.  What appeared to be unjustified aggression to others, was actually his way of protecting himself. 

At the time I was doing this work in North Carolina, I was going through a difficult time in my life.  I was grieving so many things, including the end of a marriage.  One of the ways I expressed my grief was by tears and many mornings, I would have a good cry session before I left for work.  No one at work ever seemed to notice, as I’d walk in with my cheery smile and “how are yous?” 

One morning, Doug was my first client.  He walked in my office, sat down, looked at me, and immediately said, “You’ve been crying.”  Uh, Oh, what was I to do?  I didn’t want him to start obsessing on what was causing me to cry.  I was supposed to be professional and there were professional boundaries to uphold, after all.  Yet, lying to him would destroy trust and he would feel unsafe.  I told him the truth that I was crying and after a few minutes of him expressing sadness that I could be in distress, we were able to move on.

Have you had experiences like that?  Experiences of being seen deeply?  Of not being able to hide?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus sees the Samaritan woman.  In doing so, we have a model for how to treat ourselves and a model for the church and how we treat each other and our neighbors.

First of all, Jesus dares to speak to a woman and a Samaritan woman at that.  This conversation between a man and a woman was usually not done.  The Samaritans and Jews were at odds with each other over religious practices and had little love for each other.  Jesus once again breaks the rules and focuses on relationship.

Secondly, the woman came alone to the well at noon, the hottest part of the day.  While women usually drew water for their families, they often came earlier in the day, when it was cooler.  In addition, they usually came together in a group.  It appears that this woman was not respected by her community.  She was an outcast.  Jesus once again, breaks the societal barriers, caring about the relationship.  He sees the woman as created by God, which is the most important thing.

Thirdly, Jesus does not condemn the woman.  He knows why she is not the most respected person in the community – she had five husbands and now lives with a man who is not her husband.  Jesus gives the woman the opportunity to be honest and authentic about her life, when he says in verse 16, “Go, call your husband and come back.”  The woman could have left and not returned.  She knew Jesus was a traveler and she could have never had another encounter with him again.  She could have “pretended” she was an upstanding member of the community.

Isn’t that what so many of us do?  We walk around with grieving souls, heavy in our burdens, yet tell so many that we meet that we are just fine.  Even in our church community, being authentically who we are, is difficult.  We’re not sure if we will be judged.  We’re not sure if we will be shunned.  We erroneously believe who we authentically are is not worthy of relationship.

Now, some of this is smart or necessary.  We are human beings after all and we can be very cruel to each other.  Discerning with whom to share the most intimate details of our life is prudent.  However, don’t you agree that “putting on the face” is draining and tiring?  Being able to be authentic is so freeing.  That’s what our relationship with Jesus is all about.  That’s one of the reasons God sent His Son into the world. . . to free us.

Jesus accepts the woman without judgment.  He tells her she is worthy of the water that will quench all thirst.  He does not shun her nor refuse to be in relationship with her.  As a result, she is not locked in to the role she and her community have created for her.  She is free to be different…to change.

That’s the paradox of being truly seen. . . acceptance of what is true allows us to examine that part of ourselves and to make changes if we’d like.

Jesus’ example of naming what is true, while not shunning nor cutting off the relationship, is the best example for how we treat each other and how our church community needs to be seen.  And this behavior is evangelizing.  Look what happens.  The woman is amazed.  While not the most respected member of her community, she gathers many in the town to come see this Jesus who truly saw her and knew her.  And the people come and they ask Jesus to stay with them.  While at first he is a curiosity, eventually, many believe he is the Messiah because of their encounter with him.  And the story is preserved for us.

A quote from a book on forgiveness by Karyn Kedar is part of our Lenten meditation reading, Renew a Right Spirit Within Me booklet, today and speaks to the power of being seen…our call as a Christian community to be,

“…people who see you, really see you for who you are and who love you because of that.  They know you perhaps better than you know yourself.  When you are at your best they delight in you.  When you lose your way, they hold up for you the vision of your higher self.  When you look at them, you see in their eyes a mirror of who you are – and you like what you see. . . .  They sustain all that is good in you and allow the divine purpose in your life to flow easily through you and your relationship with them.  (Bridge to Forgiveness, Karyn Kedar, p. 83)

Strive for the authentic life and strive to be the evangelist who, like Jesus, deeply sees others.

Amen

 

 

This Sunday (March 23) at St. John’s #StJohnsCorbin

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But the people thirsted there for water;  Exodus 17:3

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty.  John 4:13-14

Over half of adult bodies are composed of water.  More than food, we must have water to survive.  This Sunday we hear about God’s provision of water.  In our Old Testament lesson, the Israelites are wandering in the desert, having escaped from their slavery, but finding no water.  They are so uncomfortable, they talk about how they’d almost rather return to slavery.  God provides them water at Meribah.  God provides the physical necessary for life.

Yet, physical water is not enough as we see in our Gospel lesson from John.  Jesus is resting in Samaria by Jacob’s Well.  A Samaritan woman comes to draw water from the well and Jesus engages her in conversation, an unusual act in a number of ways we are told.  Jesus tells the woman that he offers water that totally quenches the human thirst.  Jesus offers us the essence of life. . . the way to live that we must have…that our souls require.

Blessings as you finish your week.  Below is a photo from my visit to Jacob’s Well…

Love, Rebecca+

The site of Jacob's Well

The site of Jacob’s Well

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Schedule

Next week, I will be in Corbin on Wednesday, March 26, and my Sabbath day will be Thursday, March 27.  You can get a message to me by calling 859 -429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

Adult Forum:  This Sunday, March 23, at 10:15, and Wednesday, March 25, at 4:00, we continue our series on Living Compass Adult Faith and Wellness. The session is on The “j” curve principle: growth is never linear. You can find more information about the program, including the Living Compass Assessment at http://www.livingcompass.org/adult/program.html/

Pot Luck Sunday:  Next Sunday, March 30, is our monthly pot luck.  Bring a dish or drink to share.  And all are welcome!  Plan to fellowship with each other.  

Assist with Holy Week and Easter Services:  The Altar Guild invites you to attend a meeting, Saturday, April 5, 9am – Noon.  Learn more about this important ministry and how you can assist.  Extra assistance is needed for Holy Week.

Support the Diocesan Ministries online on April 9, as part of Kentucky Gives Day.  Reading Camp, Cathedral Domain and St. Agnes’ House are participating in the Commonwealth-wide online giving day, Kentucky Gives.  Go to http://kygives.razoo.com/story/Episcopal-Diocese-Of-Lexington and give to one or to all three ministries.  

Belk Charity Sales Day, Saturday, May 3, 6:00-10:00am. Purchase $5 tickets from our ECW, which allow you entrance to the sale and $5 off your purchase. We are trying to sell 100 tickets, which provides $500 for the church and tremendous savings for you!

We’re buying goats! The Lazarus at the Gates Adult Forum study has prompted us to purchase goats through Episcopal Relief and Development for families in the Philippines. Goats provide milk, cheese, and manure for farming. Donations towards the $80 purchase of each goat can be made through the goat bank in the parish hall or in the offering plate clearly marked ERD goat project.

Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.

Everlasting Arms, Corbin’s shelter for people who are homeless, is in need of men’s and women’s razors, gloves, deodorant and socks.

The Food Pantry at Corbin Presbyterian Church is always in need of nonperishable food items. Vegetables are especially appreciated.

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

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

If you need a UTO box, please see Rebecca.

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

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

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

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Being Spirit Born (Sermon) Sunday March 16, 2014

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Sermon – March 16, 2014
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY
Second Sunday in Lent

Nicodemus said to [Jesus], “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. John 3:4-5

Please be seated

In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus says we must be born of the spirit.  Becoming a grandmother was a profound time of spiritual birth for me.  Just before my 49th birthday, my son called me, saying “Hello Grandma.”  Four months later, I was there during the sonogram, seeing my grandson, who was only 1 ounce, yet nearly fully formed.  And in early June of 2005, I finally got the call and witnessed my grandson’s birth.  I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling yet!

A couple of weeks later, I was at a training session.  We were asked to introduce ourselves in a newspaper headline.  Out popped, “Logan births grandma,” and then the resulting poem:

Logan Births Grandma
Rebecca Myers
6/19/05

I was born on your birthday
even though I am nearly
1/2 century older than you
At the same time I was helping
to birth you
You were helping to birth me

 Your gestation period of 9 months
was in your mother’s womb
where you grew eyes, ears, lungs
heart, arms, legs, brain and mouth

 My gestation period took 48 years
in the womb of life
where I grew heart, soul, spirit
compassion, love, sorrow, grief
and maybe wisdom

 We both are new to the world
We both have so much to learn
We both are teachers for each other

Your heart will give me new eyes
Your soul will give me new ears
Your spirit will give me new heart
Your compassion will give me new breath
Your love will give me new arms and legs
Your sorrow and grief will give me new mouth
Your wisdom will give me new brain

 Together we will complete the circle of life

We grow spiritually throughout our lives.  Various life events birth us spiritually.  Our Gospel tells us part of the spiritual birth of Nicodemus.  Nicodemus was a Pharisee.  (Paul was also a Pharisee.)  Pharisees were a group of Jewish people with particular practices and understandings.  Just like we have a variety of Christian denominations.  One New Testament scholar says the Jewish people at the time of Jesus were divided into “mutually antagonistic parties.”  [Writings of the New Testament, Luke Timothy Johnson,  p. 43] I think we all understand that.  Some groups wanted to overthrow the Roman rulers.  Some groups wanted to be more cooperative.  Some, like the Essenes of Qumran, totally removed themselves to the desert.

According to New Testament Scholar, Luke Timothy Johnson the Pharisees were mostly Judean, urban, and middle class.  They lived by Torah (the first five books of the Bible); however, they were flexible in that they looked for how Torah, written many years before, applied to their current circumstances.  To live within Torah and in their current context, they created Midrash or explanations, which sometimes included lengthy prescriptions about how to be sure you were being holy, for instance, or what constituted observance of the Sabbath.  The strict adherence to these prescriptions is what Jesus challenges.  How can healing a sick man on the Sabbath be against the law, Jesus asks? 

It’s easy to relate to the Pharisees, isn’t it?  There was a prescription about what was good and right.  Yet, something about Jesus’ challenges captures Nicodemus.  He has questions and wants answers, but to be seen publicly with Jesus would have been risky.  Nicodemus obviously cannot let his questions go, so he takes the steps to come to Jesus at night. 

My favorite painting of this scene is by Henry Ossawa Tanner, and shows Jesus sitting on a rooftop speaking with Nicodemus.  Many rooftops in Jerusalem have these patios atop them to catch the cooling evening breezes.  Nicodemus knows Jesus is from God, yet Jesus challenges how Nicodemus lives his life.  Nicodemus is so confused and his confusion increases in this exchange with Jesus. 

Spiritual birth is foreign to Nicodemus.  Jesus says there is something more than following the rules.  Rules are important AND they must be in balance with the spirit, with love.  All reason and no spirit is not the way of life.  We know spirit, but we cannot see it.  We cannot reason ourselves to it.

Balancing spirit and reason means that we’ll take risks and not know the outcome.  We’ll follow God’s leading, even when we feel some discomfort doing so.  We’ll be vulnerable.  We won’t be able to explain everything. 

Yet this balance is so important… so necessary to our lives…to truly living that God sent his Son into the world to model this and teach this, knowing…knowing it would be so violently rejected that we would kill God’s only Son.

If I had to explain this balance, the best I can describe it is congruence between my body and my head – a peace or relaxation of physical body and mind.  In my body, I’d experience this at my solar plexus or gut and in my head, there’d be calm rather than a lot of debate. 

During our Lenten time, take a look at your spiritual growth.  What does it look like?  How are you doing? 

We can infer that even after this confusing exchange, Nicodemus did indeed grow, because we find him again at the end of John’s Gospel, 19:38-42.  Nicodemus helps Joseph of Arimathea lay Jesus in the tomb.  Nicodemus is the one who brings the mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about 100 pounds to put in the linen cloth that wraps Jesus’ body.  The man who came in the middle of the night, takes a risk in lovingly caring for the body of Christ, a man who had been despised and scorned within the community and by the Roman authorities. 

In Jesus’ exchange with Nicodemus, Jesus ends his teaching about the importance of spiritual growth by explaining the fruits.  Jesus says, God so loved the world.  God so loved us…that he gave his only Son, so that we may not perish, but have eternal life…we may have life eternal.  God did not send Jesus as condemnation of the world we humans devise to live in.  God sent Jesus to save us from ourselves…to give us life….

Amen

The heart of desire (sermon) March 9, 2014

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

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

Please be seated.

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

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

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

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

Desire…. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

This Week (March 9) at St. John’s

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

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

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

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

Blessings as you finish your week.

My Schedule

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

Adult Forum

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.

 

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

If you need a UTO box, please see Rebecca. 

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

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

 

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

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“Who have you liberated today?” (sermon) Ash Wednesday

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

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

Please be seated. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amen

 

 

 

Transfigured for action (Sermon) March 2, 2014

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

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

Please be seated.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This Sunday (March 2) at St. John’s

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

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

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

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

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

Blessings as you finish your week.

Love, Rebecca

My Schedule

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

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

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

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

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

Lenten Resources

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

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

Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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