Homily to AST – The Octave of All Saints

November 6^th, 2013

Here we are, in the octave of All Saints. Gathered in mystical union. Offering our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to all God achieved through Jesus Christ.

And we have this reading from Matthew – the Beatitudes – As the beginning of the best known sermon every given – the Sermon on the Mount.

And doesn’t the sermon on the mount come at a wonderful point in the Gospel according to Sanit Matthew. It begins at chapter 5.

Let us go back and briefly skim over the first four chapters.

Genealogy; the birth of Jesus, his escape to Egypt and his return. The proclamation of John the Baptist, The baptism of Jesus, his temptations in the wilderness, his calling of the disciples, and two verses on his healing ministry in Galilee. It is as if, as soon as Matthew established who Jesus is, the Messiah; the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, he sets the context of the rest of his Gospel through the Sermon on the Mount. It is as if to draw the Kingdom of God into focus;

It is as if we are asked to put on the lens of Jesus; put on the lens of the Sermon on the Mount.

And then, after the beatitudes, Jesus tells us to go be the salt and the light to the world.

Go and be like Christ.

Go and be like the Saints.

Anyone enjoy SCUBA diving?

I remember going on a diving trip off the coast of Aruba. Early on a beautiful tropical morning we took a small rubber boat, loaded with diving gear to explore a World War Two wreck. The wreck was the former MV Antilla, which was a German supply ship anchored in beautiful waters of Aruba when the war broke out. Rather than surrender to the Dutch government of Aruba, the skipper scuttled the ship.

In the tropics, as the day warms up the wind increases. The afternoons are typically choppy in a steady breeze. Perfect for sailing.

But the early mornings are often flat calm.

On this particular morning, as we headed out to our diving location the light breeze created a gentle ripple on the surface of the ocean. But there were plenty of places where the ocean remained perfectly calm.

As we went along in our boat the calm spots revealed the superb clarity of the water. While sitting in our boat we crossed many of these calm spots. It was lovely making the transition from the rippled areas, where all I could see was the rippled surface of the water, to the calm spots which revealed areas where I could see not only into the water, but all the way to the bottom. It was beautiful. The crystal clear water, the beautiful turquoise colours of the ocean, the sandy shades of the bottom and the occasional fleck of color from the fish swimming below. It was an exquisite delicacy from the deep.

But what was even more amazing was putting on the diving tanks. The regulator. The weights and the mask. And then to make the first plunge.

What looked beautiful from the surface was absolutely spectacular from the vantage point of being in the water; from being immersed in it. Sure, what could be seen from the surface was beautiful but the staggering beauty of being immersed in the water, being amid the reef, and the splendid sea life was breathtaking.

The Beatitudes remind me of this day off to coast of Aruba.

You see, if the Gospel is like the ocean, the beatitudes are like those calm places where you can see clear to the bottom. The Beatitudes allow us to see the very depths of something going on in very deep places.

When you are above the surface, you don’t see the profundity of the beauty, especially when the wind is blowing because of the ripples and waves. But even when you are on the surface, if you have the chance to be in a calm spot, you can get a look into the deep.

But in order to fully appreciate the magnitude of the beauty, one must get out of the comfort of surveying from above, the dryness of being in the boat, and immerse oneself in it. There, the majestic beauty of it all will be revealed, it all its vibrant colour.

Last night I went to the hospital to visit with a man whose body is getting quiet weak. His name is Dr. John Gray. A name well known in many parts of Newfoundland because he was a physician for 25 years with the Grenfell Mission beginning in the late 1950s. The Grenfell mission was a mission of Christian mercy which sought to bring medical care to northern Newfoundland and coastal Labrador during the turn of the last century.

There is no doubt in his mind that the Lord led him on this mission, which lasted 25 years. Today, there is a 47 bed, respite-care hospital in St. Anthony named after him.

During my previous visit with him we read 1 Cor 15 together and we prayed. Last night after I greeted him he asked me in a very weak voice to read Phi 2. I want to read a little of it to you, “If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, ²make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. ⁵Let the same mind be in you that was^* in Christ Jesus, 
⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,  but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,  he humbled himself  and became obedient to the point of death—  even death on a cross. 

⁹ Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name  that is above every name, 
¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
¹¹ and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

This man saw the calm spots, saw the beauty of a calm spot and immersed himself in it.

“The purpose of this world is not to have and to hold, but to serve.” Dr. Wilfred T. Grenfell.

As people called to positions of spiritual leadership we need to swim in the mysterious depths of the Gospel; We need to explore the clear bits of our faith and allow those clear bits to inform our understanding of the less-than-clear bits.

Immerse yourself in the splendid ocean that is the Gospel.

And if there is only one piece of advice I would give, it is this; the lifeline to the surface is through prayer. The disciplines of prayer, meditation and contemplation.

I do not intend to be cliché when I say, the three rules of spiritual leadership: Prayer, prayer, prayer

Here is my journal entry from Dec 27, 2011, just about to head into my last semester at AST: “I need to reinvigorate my prayer life. I feel as though I have become unorganized in my prayer life, which is precisely how I feel in general. I am in an unorganized rut. I feel a sense of self-pity which disgusts me. I feel more separated from grace than I have been in a long time. I am coming before God to ask how I can best serve God here, in my lifetime, while I have eyes, feet and hands.”

4 April 2012: “My fist day in the parish and I am feeling anxious. I know I need to focus on activities that sustain me. I will need to build these activities into every day so that I can write and reflect. This seems to be a necessary activity for me.”

26 April 2012: “My first parish council meeting. I was shocked by the emotional tenor at parish council tonight. Two people, [in the midst of a controversial issue] stormed out, promising never to return to Trinity.”

18 May 2012: “My walk in this beautiful faith is one that involves listening yet it is all so very easy to become distracted. My daily walk must involve listening in prayer. As I write this in my office the phone is ringing, again,  yet I need this time. I want to be empty so that I may be filled up with that which I need for my journey; a journey solely motivated by doing the will of the Father.”

“Spiritual mathematics seems to involve a whole lot more subtraction than addition; simplification rather than complication, emptying rather than filling, letting go rather than holding on.”

“Like the deer desires the water brooks, so I long for you, O God.”

Listening, it seems, accomplishes three things:

1.      A deeper appreciation of emotions

2.      A deeper appreciation of passion

3.      Time to rekindle

2 June 2013

I remember hearing Leonard Cohen’s response to being asked about inspiration for writing. He was was asked, “Where do you go to write this stuff; how to do train your mind to go there.” His answer was brilliant, “If I knew” he said, “I would go there more often.”

We are indeed people of revelation.

Always be open to receive.

So what have I learned these past 18 months. Well, I could summerize it all and say what I most learned is this is all about Grace. By grace alone. Not buts. But I am going to break that open through four brief points:

1.      The universe is personal.

2.      Theological Thinking is crucially important.

3.      Your sense of call

4.      Be open to receive.

1.      The universe is not impersonal. It is deeply personal. It is ultimately personal and this personal reality emerges from relationship and love. The spiritual life is all about love. That might sound easy but it is the most difficult task I have undertaken because it is not a task, but the manifestation of a relationship. The first principle of this is God’s love for us; the God who gave us life. Our relationship to God allows that love to flow through us. It takes a self-giving willingness to be led in love.

Example: I had an extremely difficult pastoral situation which had me at one moment in the perpertratior’s  living room and in another moment in the victim’s living room. I thank God that God is the judge and I am not. My job is to be present in love: to re-present love; to speak truth in love and to hopefully work toward healing. This is not naïve work of being everyone’s friend. This is the difficult work of loving the other and always being open to accept an apology. Flexibility does not mean relativism; confronting issues does not mean being offensive. The desired pastoral outcome is that our limited love will be a gateway for God’s unlimited, unconditional love. Power to manipulate a situation must always be abandoned in favour of love.

2.      Theological Thinking: Theology matters [story deleted for this forum]

Henri Nouwen wrote, “Most priests today are being educated in a climate in which the behavioural sciences such as psychology and sociology so dominate the educational mileau that true theology is no longer being learned. Theological thinking must involve the milieu of the mind of Christ. Without solid theological reflection, future leaders will be little more than pseudo-psychologists and social workers rather than Christian leaders. Christian leaders speak and act in the name of Jesus who came to free humanity from the power of death and to open the path to eternal life. Christian leaders need to say no to sentimental attempts that make people develop a spirit of resignation or stoic indifference in the face of unavoidable pain, suffering and death.”

3.      Remember your sense of call to this vocation: Remind yourself of it. Recall it. Pray with it. There is so much pain and so much work to be done. We are not trained psychologists or social workers yet, and although I have no capacity to diagnose anything. My best help to them is to help them find the help they need and to love them and advocate for them as I walk with them along the way.

What is your sense of call to this vocation? Be authentic to your sense of call. And I think the best way you can be authentic is to be grounded in prayer. The clarity of it will wax and wane but go back to it, sit with it.

Pray with it.

 Imagine Jesus is asking you, “Do you love me?” Your most intimate lover is asking you if you love him. What does that loving response from you look like? Be that, whatever that is, be it because it is built on the eternal relationship that sustains all relationships.

4.      Always, always, always be open to receive. Gifts abound.

Spiritual leaders cannot stay in the boat and enjoy looking at the magnificence of the deep through the calm spots. We must be immersed in the water no matter how rough the waters becomes. So, get out of the boat! Because at 40 feet, the surface waves are nothing more than a gentle rocking motion. Enjoy the swim; it’s really awesome.

Feed on this in your heart, by faith, with thanksgiving. Amen.