At one point last evening, it all seemed too much. I was completely staggered by the immensity of the lections for today. There’s David who miss-uses his power, setting up a faithful soldier to be killed in battle so that his own adultery will be less visible. Then there are the two gospel stories of Jesus’ miraculous acts: feeding the 5,000 and his walking on the sea to meet the disciples in their boat. As I read and re-read these stories over the last week, I was watching for the word or phrase that shimmered. As always, it didn’t happen until it happened, and then I wondered why I’d never seen it before.
The lesson from 2 Samuel begins: In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle…I had to read it twice. I’d never thought of what it might be like to live in a world where war was a seasonal activity—a world where someone writing about a great historical figure would set the context by referring to the season of war. As I tried to imagine what that might be like, my mind began sifting through the activities of these last few weeks.
The first thing that came to mind was the meeting of General Convention that ended last Friday. You may remember the newspaper coverage of the two previous General Conventions—those occurring in 2003 and 2006. In 2003, the bishops of the Episcopal Church and the clergy and laity representing the dioceses of the Church voted to ratify the election of Gene Robinson, a gay man living in a committed relationship, to be bishop of New Hampshire. You may remember that action as an earthquake that shook the Anglican Communion and resulted in a series of discussions and studies about ecclesial authority and human sexuality that are still in process. Then, in 2006, the House of Bishops elected a woman, Katharine Jefferts Schori, to be Presiding Bishop. That action was experienced as a tsunami in some segments of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, and it was probably the blow that led to several dioceses’ decision to leave the Episcopal Church and align with other leadership.
You may not have seen any coverage of this year’s General Convention in the Mercury or the Chronicle. I didn’t, and I did look from time to time. The reports I’ve heard from those who attended give a picture of a large family reunion. The bishops and deputies did hard work, and they made some difficult decisions, but they did it with care and respectful attention to each other and to our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world. Their focus on our Baptismal Covenant was present in all their activities—from worship to deliberations. The full list of work that was accomplished will certainly further the mission of the Church. The two resolutions that you may have read or heard about are D025 and C056. The first reaffirms our commitment to membership in the Anglican Communion and to the Lambeth Listening Process, as well as our recognition that people living in committed same-sex relationships are called to lay and ordained ministry and our acknowledgement that the members of the church and of the communion are not all of the same mind about this. The second resolution acknowledges changing circumstances regarding same-sex couples in the United States, affirms the need for a pastoral response to these changes, and sets in motion a process for development of theological and liturgical resources to for that pastoral response and asks the Convention to honor the theological diversity of the Church in regard to matters of human sexuality. A letter from the Presiding Bishop describing the actions of General Convention is available for you on the back table, and there’s much more available on the Episcopal Church website.
The second activity that came to my mind was the Conflict Management Workshop that the Center for Reconciliation presented yesterday here at St. Mark’s. Twelve participants, our largest group ever, with folks from as far away as Santa Cruz, gathered to learn techniques that can help them live more fully into their baptismal promises. They were excited, hopeful for learning ways to manage conflict in positive and productive ways and focused on putting their learning into place in their lives and on sharing with others the good news that our lives don’t have to be defined by conflict.
The third activity that came to my mind is the work this community is doing today. Today we baptize Alexis Mae Enriquez. Her parents, Mike and Lee, are trusting that St. Mark’s is a community where people can learn to follow Christ’s teachings. They have seen that learning happening in our preschool, where Alexis is a student, and they felt that spirit when they worshiped with us. This morning, as we renew our baptismal promises and as Mike and Lee make those promises on behalf of Alexis, it may be that we’ll feel the Spirit moving among us, lifting us into a little more awareness of God’s grace present with us, nudging us just a little closer to the lives we are called to live in Christ.
There was another phrase in our scripture that shimmered for me yesterday. Our reading from Paul’s letter to the Church at Ephesus begins: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. The search for that reason led me to re-read the whole letter, written while Paul was in prison for his acts of evangelism. The reason is his experience of God’s transforming power—God’s ability to bring us all, through Christ and the Holy Spirit, to a newness of life with an abundance beyond our asking or imagining. He prays that the Ephesians will have the power to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ, that they may know this love that surpasses all knowledge and be filled with all the fullness of God. This is also my prayer for us this morning, and it is especially my prayer for Alexis in the days and months and years to come. We are blessed by her presence.
Thanks be to God!