Sermon August 26th 2007
Sermon for August 26th 2007
The Revd. J. Michael Povey at St. Hilary’s, Fort Myers, FL
Isaiah 58:9-14; Psalm 103; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10:17
Thank you for welcoming me into your community this morning. Until just over a year ago I was Rector at St. James’s, Cambridge in Massachusetts. Now I am retired and enjoying life in Sarasota.
Some of us met about 10 years ago when we explored whether or not I might be your Rector. It was in our wisdom and that of the Holy Spirit that we decided otherwise. Instead Fr. Bob came here, and I am so grateful for his grace and generosity of spirit which moved him to invite me here today.
I try to be of the KISS variety of preachers. KISS as many of you know, stands for Keep It Simple...... Saints!
“ Let us give thanks, by which we offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe.”
So wrote the author of the Letter to the Hebrews.
“Acceptable worship”. That implies that there is unacceptable worship.
So I start by asserting that God is not necessarily pleased with what we are doing today.
That’s particularly hard for Episcopalians to hear and belief, possessed as we are by a certain snobbish attitude about our liturgy and music. We imagine that God tunes in on Sunday mornings and says “oh yes, the Episcopalians, now they of all Christians have gotten the Liturgy right!”
But what if......, what if God is not pleased with what we are doing? Dare we imagine the Holy One saying “I am bored silly with your fancy dress and your endless processions, I am not listening any more, your worship is totally unacceptable”?
Could that happen?
Well the God of Isaiah is also the one who says by Amos “I hate, I despise your solemn feasts”. And according to Amos, the reason for that hatred by God is worship which consists of all words and no ethics.
Worse than that, unacceptable worship is that which is rooted in unjust acts which are masked by holy words.
Isaiah gives us the positive to Amos’ negative. The Sabbath prayer which is acceptable to God; the prayer which God hears, is rooted in free and honest life in the community of faith; and justice for the poor and afflicted.
Free and honest life in the Christian community.
For that to happen, Isaiah says that we need to lift yokes: that is, lift unnecessary burdens.
What are the burdens which this parish places, for instance upon its clergy and lay leaders? What are the unrealistic expectations we place upon them? Do we expect their perfections to mask our imperfections? Would we demand from them that which would not dream of asking of a spouse, a child, a boss or a parent? Lift those yokes or else God might not hear our prayers.
Free and honest life in the Christian community.
For that to happen, Isaiah continues we must cease from the pointing of the finger and the speaking of evil.
Pointing of the finger. “When we in the Christian community say “it’s his fault, it’s her fault”, or “they should have acted differently”, or “he really messed up there”, or “she only looks out for number one” - then we are pointing the finger. It’s actually quite dangerous speech for it can lead to scape-goating and all manner of verbal cruelty.
When we point the finger, God does not hear our prayer. Banish those words “he, she, they” and substitute “we”. “They” are “us”.
Speaking of evil. That points to the cardinal sin which destroys lives and destroys community. That sin is called gossip. There is no such thing as harmless gossip. It is always harmful. The is no such thing as a juicy bit of gossip, it is always rank and bitter. God does not hear the prayers of a gossipy Church. Period.
“Justice for the hungry and the afflicted”
For you see, in order for our worship to be acceptable to God, is it is not sufficient to abstain from lifting yokes, pointing fingers and the speaking of evil. That’s the easy bit.
My eyes loop the loop when I hear of someone “she/he never did any harm”. “All well and good” I want to ask, “but did she/he do any good?”
We are also called to do something.
God hears the prayers of those who offer their food to the hungry.
Notice, it does not say “offer someone else’s food to the hungry”! It is an offence against God to be an obese Church in a hungry world, and I speak as one who eats too much, sometimes just for the sake of eating. A food greedy Church is one whose worship is unacceptable.
And right worship is rooted in satisfying the needs of the afflicted.
Who are the afflicted in Fort Myers? Could it be the migrant workers on whom our lives and comforts depend? Could it be the prisoners in that ugly castle at the centre of your City? Could it be the frail elderly in our miserably understaffed nursing homes?
In Sarasota it is certainly the homeless. There we work in a marvelous Church created facility called Resurrection House, and offer breakfast, a shower, a laundry service, together with job and housing counseling.
And there, week by week I pray with the homeless, amongst whom are some of the most wonderful people I have met. I do not do this because I am a nice guy. But if I do not work to satisfy the needs of the afflicted, God will not hear my prayer, and my worship and this sermon will not be acceptable to God.
Is God pleased with what we are doing today? There is the story of the famous and very wise Rabbi in Nineteenth Century Poland who entered a small town in which there was a most beautiful Synagogue. The leaders of the community could not wait to take this Rabbi to their building, and with great pride they unlocked and open the doors.
The Rabbi stood at the threshold and stopped saying “I cannot enter, there is something blocking my way”. The leaders were mystified as the doors were wide open. Again they urged the Rabbi to enter. Again is said that his way was blocked. At last the leaders asked the Rabbi, “what is blocking your way”. “Words, words, words” he said. Words which you left here last Shabbat, and did not take with you”.
What would that Rabbi say at the doors of St. Hilary’s?
Or, more importantly, is God pleased with what we are doing today or are we ticking him off?
The Revd. J. Michael Povey at St. Hilary’s, Fort Myers, FL
Isaiah 58:9-14; Psalm 103; Hebrews 12:18-29; Luke 13:10:17
Thank you for welcoming me into your community this morning. Until just over a year ago I was Rector at St. James’s, Cambridge in Massachusetts. Now I am retired and enjoying life in Sarasota.
Some of us met about 10 years ago when we explored whether or not I might be your Rector. It was in our wisdom and that of the Holy Spirit that we decided otherwise. Instead Fr. Bob came here, and I am so grateful for his grace and generosity of spirit which moved him to invite me here today.
I try to be of the KISS variety of preachers. KISS as many of you know, stands for Keep It Simple...... Saints!
“ Let us give thanks, by which we offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and awe.”
So wrote the author of the Letter to the Hebrews.
“Acceptable worship”. That implies that there is unacceptable worship.
So I start by asserting that God is not necessarily pleased with what we are doing today.
That’s particularly hard for Episcopalians to hear and belief, possessed as we are by a certain snobbish attitude about our liturgy and music. We imagine that God tunes in on Sunday mornings and says “oh yes, the Episcopalians, now they of all Christians have gotten the Liturgy right!”
But what if......, what if God is not pleased with what we are doing? Dare we imagine the Holy One saying “I am bored silly with your fancy dress and your endless processions, I am not listening any more, your worship is totally unacceptable”?
Could that happen?
Well the God of Isaiah is also the one who says by Amos “I hate, I despise your solemn feasts”. And according to Amos, the reason for that hatred by God is worship which consists of all words and no ethics.
Worse than that, unacceptable worship is that which is rooted in unjust acts which are masked by holy words.
Isaiah gives us the positive to Amos’ negative. The Sabbath prayer which is acceptable to God; the prayer which God hears, is rooted in free and honest life in the community of faith; and justice for the poor and afflicted.
Free and honest life in the Christian community.
For that to happen, Isaiah says that we need to lift yokes: that is, lift unnecessary burdens.
What are the burdens which this parish places, for instance upon its clergy and lay leaders? What are the unrealistic expectations we place upon them? Do we expect their perfections to mask our imperfections? Would we demand from them that which would not dream of asking of a spouse, a child, a boss or a parent? Lift those yokes or else God might not hear our prayers.
Free and honest life in the Christian community.
For that to happen, Isaiah continues we must cease from the pointing of the finger and the speaking of evil.
Pointing of the finger. “When we in the Christian community say “it’s his fault, it’s her fault”, or “they should have acted differently”, or “he really messed up there”, or “she only looks out for number one” - then we are pointing the finger. It’s actually quite dangerous speech for it can lead to scape-goating and all manner of verbal cruelty.
When we point the finger, God does not hear our prayer. Banish those words “he, she, they” and substitute “we”. “They” are “us”.
Speaking of evil. That points to the cardinal sin which destroys lives and destroys community. That sin is called gossip. There is no such thing as harmless gossip. It is always harmful. The is no such thing as a juicy bit of gossip, it is always rank and bitter. God does not hear the prayers of a gossipy Church. Period.
“Justice for the hungry and the afflicted”
For you see, in order for our worship to be acceptable to God, is it is not sufficient to abstain from lifting yokes, pointing fingers and the speaking of evil. That’s the easy bit.
My eyes loop the loop when I hear of someone “she/he never did any harm”. “All well and good” I want to ask, “but did she/he do any good?”
We are also called to do something.
God hears the prayers of those who offer their food to the hungry.
Notice, it does not say “offer someone else’s food to the hungry”! It is an offence against God to be an obese Church in a hungry world, and I speak as one who eats too much, sometimes just for the sake of eating. A food greedy Church is one whose worship is unacceptable.
And right worship is rooted in satisfying the needs of the afflicted.
Who are the afflicted in Fort Myers? Could it be the migrant workers on whom our lives and comforts depend? Could it be the prisoners in that ugly castle at the centre of your City? Could it be the frail elderly in our miserably understaffed nursing homes?
In Sarasota it is certainly the homeless. There we work in a marvelous Church created facility called Resurrection House, and offer breakfast, a shower, a laundry service, together with job and housing counseling.
And there, week by week I pray with the homeless, amongst whom are some of the most wonderful people I have met. I do not do this because I am a nice guy. But if I do not work to satisfy the needs of the afflicted, God will not hear my prayer, and my worship and this sermon will not be acceptable to God.
Is God pleased with what we are doing today? There is the story of the famous and very wise Rabbi in Nineteenth Century Poland who entered a small town in which there was a most beautiful Synagogue. The leaders of the community could not wait to take this Rabbi to their building, and with great pride they unlocked and open the doors.
The Rabbi stood at the threshold and stopped saying “I cannot enter, there is something blocking my way”. The leaders were mystified as the doors were wide open. Again they urged the Rabbi to enter. Again is said that his way was blocked. At last the leaders asked the Rabbi, “what is blocking your way”. “Words, words, words” he said. Words which you left here last Shabbat, and did not take with you”.
What would that Rabbi say at the doors of St. Hilary’s?
Or, more importantly, is God pleased with what we are doing today or are we ticking him off?
