Salvation...and Safety

"That's all I have to say about that."

-- Forrest Gump

The Man Born Blind…Born This Way

Wow! Father John gave a stunningly amazing sermon today on the gospel about the man who was blind from birth. We hear this reading so frequently, it’s easy to miss or ignore important messages. I’m always glad when I have a big aha moment like I did today: God’s radical transforming power is a process. I know, I know. We hear this a million times, but sometimes you hear it in a way that gives it new meaning.

So Jesus comes across a man who is blind, picks up some dirt, spits into his hands and then rubs the mud on the man’s eyes. He then says to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent).” Editorial note: it’s one thing to wash mud out of your eyes; it’s another thing entirely to find your way to Siloam if you’re blind. If you’re used to hanging out all day in one place begging for money, you probably don’t have any idea where Siloam is or how to get there. You probably need to ask people to help you… Hmm, another manifestation of God’s transforming power!

So the blind man went and washed and came back able to see. Along the way, he tells a bunch of people what happened to him and helps lead others to the Lord. Once again, the moment of epiphany: God’s radical transforming power is a process. It doesn’t happen in an instant. It takes time and it engages us in the work of transformation. I love when I’m reminded of that.

Then, Father John gave us this unusual end of homily plot twist: he mentioned that he and his family saw Lady Gaga in concert at the Verizon Center. In the midst of her performance, Lady Gaga says, “Jesus loves everybody!” (Not just some people.) She also performs “Born This Way,” which provides another rich perspective on the man born blind. In the gospel, the authority figures want to know WHOSE SIN resulted in this person’s blindness. Was it his sin? Was it his parents’ sin? Someone must be responsible for this deformity! Nope. Try the lyrics from “Born This Way” instead…

There's nothin' wrong with lovin' who you are
She said, 'cause He made you perfect, babe
So hold your head up, girl and you you'll go far
Listen to me when I say

I'm beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way

Goofy and Earnest

“Goofy and earnest – that could be our motto!” Those were the words of vestry member Tom Brooke after hearing this story:
Several years ago a young family settled in Northern Virginia. Shopping for a church to attend, they encountered a seminarian who took a keen interest in them. The seminarian listened to their hopes and concerns and said to them, “I’ve attended most of the Episcopal churches around here. I’ve participated in Eucharist and watched the way each community responds to everyone from infants to the aged. Knowing you as I do, I think you would feel very much at home at the Church of Saint Clement.”

Soon, the family started coming to our church. One of the family members might be considered high spirited and “a little goofy.” Another family member expressed the wonder and sincerity of one who is “very earnest.” The other family members have other gifts. On hearing this story, Tom Brooke immediately uttered to a group of us, “Goofy and earnest – that could be our motto.”

Well, I guess you could say we ARE goofy and earnest. And open, welcoming, and caring.

Welcome to the Church of Saint Clement: the goofy and earnest parish on Quaker Lane!

Made for Goodness

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has a new book out called Made for Goodness. In a recent radio interview, Renee Montagne of National Public Radio asked Archbishop Tutu about the book and his life. Here is an excerpt that especially moved me.

MONTAGNE: Have you found that your relationship to God has changed as you've grown older?

Archbishop TUTU: Yes. I am learning to shut up more in the presence of God.

(Sound bite of laughter)

Archbishop TUTU: You know … you have a kind of shopping list that you bring to God. But more and more, I think you are trying to grow in just being there. Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter, you are just there in front of the fire, and you don't have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you.

Filling the Emptiness

Several weeks back, our seminarian Evan Clendenin gave the sermon at the 10:00 a.m. Eucharist. It was November 8, the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost. The readings are important, of course, but what resonated with me then was his powerful evocation of the nature and manufacture of glass. “I like glass,” he said. “Those who know me and engage me in conversation know that I almost always find a way to talk about glass.”

Evan described one glass making process that involves a wax mold surrounded by sand. When you pour the hot, molten glass into the wax, the wax disappears and what remains is the glass object you’re working to create. “Something better takes the place of the wax…as God fills the emptiness in our lives.”

Evan went on to note that our worship spaces are mostly empty -- large, cavernous building interiors. Then he drew us back to the Old Testament reading from the book of Ruth in which we learn about how Ruth became the wife of Boaz and about the relationship of Ruth to her mother-in-law Naomi. “God is strangely invisible in the Book of Ruth,” Evan tells us. But “it is in the words that people speak out of their miraculous abundance that God’s presence is apparent.”

Pray for Peace

These are headlines from today’s (only today’s) New York Times:

U.S. Woman and Italian Man Convicted in Italy of Briton’s Murder

36 Killed At Mosque For Officers in Pakistan

After Assassination Attempt, Guinea’s Junta Leader Leaves Country for Treatment

NATO Pledges 7,000 Troops for Afghanistan, but Details are Few and Questions Are Many

Iran Limits Data to Atomic Agency

Revised Report on Virginia Tech Shooting Faults University Anew

The Book of Common Prayer contains a useful appeal for a day like this:

3. For the Human Family
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.

The Perversity of Things

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to do something, you just can’t make it work. I’ve been trying to get a certain computer program to work for me, and it is failing. I’ve used this program 1,000 times before. It has worked in the past and now…NOTHING. It’s frustrating to me, but also a lesson that I’m not in control and I can’t always have my way. It’s also a lesson that I need to ask for help from others who know these things better than I do. It could also be a lesson that it’s very late at night, I’m tired, and perhaps I’m forgetting some essential step. Perhaps I could easily accomplish the job with a fully rested mind and body. Who knows? In any case, the feeling of powerlessness – over computers, the weather, world history, the result of an election, or even how the toast turns out when it emerges from the toaster – is a sign. It’s a sacrament, I suppose. A visible manifestation of the presence of God in the world.

Trees

We have beautiful Christmas trees on sale at St. Clement. More than 150 freshly cut trees arrived yesterday. Thanks to Father John for helping the truck driver unload the trees.

Selling Christmas trees is one of the most important fundraisers in our community each year. We hope you will come out and support this effort...and tell all your friends.

Here is a photograph of my office holiday party with one of the beautiful St. Clement trees. Thanks to Rudy Garcia and Dru Hortum for helping me pick it out. My colleagues and I decorated it during our office holiday party on Friday. It's the first live Christmas tree we've had in our office and it really makes a big difference.

Celebrate the Advent-Christmas season with a beautiful tree from St. Clement and support the church community we all love.

Peace,

Pat