Patience Builds Community

 

I admit that I am running out of patience with things happening in this world. I am upset by the disruption to lives and families and communities caused by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. I am furious with the endless and pointless war in Iran. I don't like the way developers have been able to control policies at Tallahassee City Hall and the way that artists now have to choose their words carefully when seeking grant funding because anything considered "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" or D.E.I. is verboten in Florida. 

But patience really is the key to making real lasting change. Patience is what allows people to wrestle and negotiate the best path forward. 

And it is clear that even in the days of the early church, patience truly was a virtue.

See what you think.

Text: Philippians 4:1-9

+++

You know that saying, “Patience is a virtue”?

It’s one of those phrases that people like to drop on other people when they’re not being patient.

I’ve always thought I was patient.

Then we got our cat Romeo.

Romeo is a very good hunter…or at least he is good at catching tiny geckos and bringing them into the house.

When he plays…he’ll lie very still for several… way too long minutes…. before he finally pounces on the toy at the end of a string.

He feels triumphant as he wrestles with his play thing.

Often he wins those games….because I’ve already lost my patience waiting for him to do something!

The actual phrase…patience is a virtue… dates back to a 14^th century poem…but the idea has existed a lot longer than that.

It’s one of the major tenets found in both Eastern and Western religions.

And I think it is at the heart of many of our readings this morning.

We definitely hear it in the story of the Golden Calf. The Israelites lose patience waiting for Moses.

God starts to lose patience with a people who make other gods for themselves.

And Moses appeals to God to have more patience…which God listens to and relents.

Whew!

We can also hear it in Paul’s Letter to the Philippians….which could be like a letter to just about any faith community of today.

The Easter Season was more than a minute ago.

We heard the story of Pentecost with the Holy Spirit making a dramatic entrance into the Upper Room back in May.

We’re now at the 20^th Sunday since Pentecost.

As the weeks and months have worn on…and we’ve experienced sufferings…from the deeply personal to the existential.

In times such as this…it’s easy to lose our focus and go down rabbit holes that want to take us deep into the warren of despair.

And when we fall into that trap… that’s when we start losing patience.

We have disputes…people start working at cross purposes to one another…often out of a sense of urgency.

That was all true of the early Christian church as well.

We hear Paul telling this new church at Philippi…”Hey, Euodia and Syntyche…I need y’all to slow down…chill out…and quit fighting with each other.”

We don’t know what the problem was between these two women. 

But what we can gather from Paul’s words that whatever it was…it was causing stress within the church community.

Stress that wasn’t needed in a time and a place where the church was a minority in a still challenging environment of Roman empirical rule. 

And given that he named them…these were clearly two church women who were in the leadership ranks.

Both probably had their own ideas as to how things ought to be done in the church.

Both were good and faithful church members and wanted to serve.

And Paul…from his jail cell…is reminding them and all the church…including us… that the one mission that matters is the Gospel mission of Love:

To care for the poor…the sick…the hungry…and the oppressed…and those in prison…both the literal and the figurative.

And all of that requires working together…with patience and forbearance for each other’s quirks and attitudes.

And it can happen with joy…even in the middle of difficult circumstances and trying times.

Paul loved the church at Philippi and really wanted them to succeed.

Not for the sake of his ego…but for what the Christian church stood for: a place of building up those who were getting knocked down by the Roman Empire…and connecting them to the God of Love…Mercy…and Compassion.

Taking people who often felt harassed and tired….and giving them hope.

We can hear this in his opening sentence…when he talks about the Philippians being his “joy and my crown.”

The “crown” is a reference to the victory wreaths that were awarded to athletes and the winners in a contest.

These wreaths were made from real twigs and metal that was twisted together.

Think of the images of the Greek god Apollo…and other larger than life figures from ancient times…wearing them on their heads or holding them in their hands.

For Paul…the Philippians of the church…who…through the care they offered to him while he sat in prison…proved they were winners.

And their hard work was the outward and visible symbol of the victory that happens when Love goes into motion with all the members putting forth their best efforts.

When they are diligent… persistent and patient with themselves and each other…that’s when others see the light of Christ in them.

Not as an individual achievement of greatness…but as a team.

That’s what it means to be “in community.”

I remember the late Governor Lawton Chiles of Florida in his first state of the state address to the legislature talked about working toward Florida being a community and not a crowd.

The idea of a crowd represented people who were engaged in jockeying for position…bumping up against each other…and trying to push aside anyone they considered a rival for attention.

As long as they got what they thought was their share… members of the crowd didn’t care what happened to anyone else.

Community…on the other hand…evoked a sense of responsibility… not only for oneself but for others. 

Communities pulled together to make a difference that wasn’t just for a day…but hopefully for a lifetime…improving things for the current and future generations.

And making things easier…better…bigger and brighter…for more people…that’s truly a reason to rejoice.

Working together to make things happen is critical to building up joy in the church.

And we know that from our own efforts here at St. Barnabas.

When there’s a need to lay out pallets for the pumpkin patch…people show up in the middle of Wednesday to help.

When a member of the altar guild or a person scheduled to be a lector falls ill…someone steps in to take on that task.

When we hear of government cutbacks to food assistance programs…people pull from their pantries to put items in the basket out in our narthex…or contribute to entities in their towns and still others go to help feed the hungry on the streets of Valdosta.

Together…we do make a difference in the ways that we are able to do so.

That’s important in these times when going to the grocery store or watching the evening news makes us keenly aware that all is not right in society.

We have the chance… and indeed we’ve been invited and called… to be the people who show up and are ready to respond as good stewards of our church and our community.

As Paul says…”keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard” knowing that God is working through us in our efforts to make this world a place of health…healing…and hope with unconditional love.

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Anna Alexander: Persistent in Unfavorable Times

The patron saint of the Diocese of Georgia, Deaconness Anna Alexander, has a story worth hearing every year. And this year, we followed the advice to celebrate her Feast Day (Sept. 24th) on the following Sunday...the last Sunday of September. 

See what you think. And feel free to leave a comment. 

Text: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

+++

Today we’re marking the Feast Day of Anna Ellison Butler Alexander…the patron saint of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia.

Her actual saint day was this past Thursday…but diocesan churches are allowed…and strongly encouraged… to celebrate her feast on a Sunday morning.

The bulletin has a brief biography about her…and her legacy as the first and only black woman made a deaconess in the Episcopal Church.

But there’s so much more to the story of her life.

And given her experiences and the way she went about lifting up the people of Pennick…I think it’s only appropriate that those charged with the task of selecting the lectionary readings for her Feast Day…settled on this reading from the Second Letter to Timothy.

Because for the time that she served as a deaconess…Anna Alexander was “persistent whether the time was favorable or unfavorable” and definitely demonstrated the skill of being able to “convince, rebuke, and encourage with the utmost patience in teaching.”

Anyone who has ever taught knows you need equal parts of all those…and maybe even an extra dose of patience…when giving instruction to another.

It reminds me of a story I heard about my childhood next door neighbor.

Mister B…as we called him…was one of the music teachers at the junior high school and taught band.

And he was without question one of the coolest dudes on the junior high faculty.

He played the guitar, tenor sax and the clarinet…and he rode a motorcycle to and from the school.

He had an easy-going demeanor…but he also was demanding and not a pushover.

One day…one of the band students seemed troubled and just not himself at all.

Mister B knew this kid’s path home.

And so he found him…sulking as he walked past the Roman Catholic Church.

Mister B rode up alongside him.

He turned off the engine of his motorcycle…and pushed it along as the two of them talked about what was going on in this young man’s world.

Mister B listened to him…and then he reminded this kid of the other parts of his story that he’d skipped over.

That this child was a pretty good musician…and he would get better by coming to band class.

That level of concern…and encouragement…helped turn that kid’s world around.

He was in his seat at the next band class…and never missed another one for the rest of the year.

Teachers can have that sort of impact.

And Anna Alexander had that same drive and desire to build up her community of Pennick, Georgia.

She came from a large family…the youngest of eleven children.

Her parents had been slaves on the Butler Plantation on St. Simon’s Island and when they were freed…the family found land in nearby Pennick.

She and two of her sisters were the founders of St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church in Darien…but it was while she attended a service at St. Athanasius in Brunswick that Anna had a vision of starting a mission church in Pennick.

With the encouragement of the priest and others at St. Athanasius….that dream became the reality of Church of the Good Shepherd in Pennick.

Anna left Georgia in 18-97… to attend St. Paul’s Normal and Industrial School which later became St. Paul’s College in Lawrenceville, Virginia.

St. Paul’s was a college founded by a black Episcopal priest named James Solomon Russell…specifically to train black teachers.

When she learned that The Church of the Good Shepherd mission was in trouble…Anna came home to Pennick…

Now ”equipped with every good work”….she began to revitalize the church and eventually…with help of one of her brothers and local men…they built the schoolhouse on the property with logs and clapboards. 

Watching all of this was the Episcopal Bishop of Georgia…C.K. Nelson.

He was impressed with her tenacity and determination…using her sewing skills to raise the money she needed to support her mission.

Nelson even made his own financial contribution to help her build living quarters in the schoolhouse.

He saw in Anna the calling of a deaconess…which at that time…was a lay order of church women who mostly worked in schools and hospitals.

Bishop Nelson conferred on her that new status of deaconess…making her the first…and only…black woman so recognized in The Episcopal Church in the 20^th century.

But nothing was easy for Anna Alexander.

Even though Bishop Nelson could see something special in her work…the larger diocese was another matter.

In 1907…the Diocese of Georgia…which had grown to be 108 missions and too large for one bishop…voted to split.

The northern and western parts of the state became the diocese of Atlanta…and the central and southern parts to the coast became the Diocese of Georgia.

Bishop Nelson moved to Atlanta.

And a new bishop…Fredrick Reese…was elected as the 4^th bishop of Georgia…at a time when Jim Crow laws were coming into play in the secular society….and would spill over into the church.

Black Episcopal congregations in Georgia were segregated into the Council of Colored Churchmen and excluded from the diocesan conventions until 19-47…the year that Anna Alexander died.

There was World War I.

And then the Great Depression of the 1930s.

And then World War II.

Not an easy time for anyone.

But…nevertheless…even in “unfavorable times”…Anna Alexander persisted…never once letting other people’s prejudices distract her from doing what she could for the people of Pennick…regardless of their race.

She and her impoverished congregation of Good Shepherd kept feeding the hungry…and caring for those in need…from the blind and the elderly to the orphans and young mothers.

Anaa’s connections that she made while in college helped her to find the financial resources beyond the diocese to keep the school going.

She even took a job cooking at the diocesan church camp in the summers…while having to create separate camping opportunities for black boys and girls.

And while tuition was a nickel a week to go to Good Shepherd school…Anna never turned anyone away.

The skills she had learned…first from her parents who instilled in her the value of an education…then her own desire to read and write….fueled her passion and her burning desire to see the children of Pennick succeed.

She had taught before in the Brunswick schools and had been disappointed with the public-school teaching materials.

She wanted something more for her students…a chance to meet the God of Love that she found in the Gospels.

So with textbooks in short supply…she had them pull out the Book of Common Prayer and the Bible…and used those to teach kids their ABCs.

Anna took the lines of Second Timothy seriously: the scriptures inspired by God are “useful for teaching…for reproof…for correction…and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient.”

And it worked.

Anna Alexander taught several generations of Pennick children from kindergarten through high school.

When they reached the age to go to college…she helped them apply to the historically black schools along the East Coast…including her alma mater…St. Paul’s. 

She drove them off to their college campuses…opening up a world to them that wouldn’t have been possible without her effort.

Anna’s students embarked on careers that took them beyond the coastal plain of Georgia.

And even though the diocese of Georgia had excluded her and other black members…Bishop Reese took the unusual step at the 1930 diocesan convention to highlight what Anna was accomplishing in Pennick.

He spoke of “the faith and courage and persistency of this good woman.” and added, “I think that it is proper and just that I should make this notice, because this woman is entitled to it, and because her example is a good and encouraging one to all of us.”

It remains a good example for all of us even today.

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.

 

History drawn from various resources on the Diocese of Georgia website, especially deaconessannaalexander.georgiaepiscopal.org, the YouTube video “A Life Beloved: Deaconess Alexander,” and Charles Wohler’s write up on satucket.lectionary.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let Our Lives Tell the Story

 

Well hello everyone!

I've been so busy that I haven't had time to stop and post my sermons. 

This one from Sunday, September 20th (aka Proper 20) was for an Instructed Eucharist Sunday. I had hoped that our church might have some folks who were visitors or at least that some of my members might invite a friend or two to this service. 

And while that didn't happen, it gave everyone a chance to learn a few things that they hadn't known or thought about before. 

Now it's your turn to see the thought process behind my sermon writing...or at least this sermon's evolution. 

Another note: the week in Valdosta was full of rage and tension as ICE came to town and agents were conducting traffic chases after members of the Latin population going to their jobs. There were protests on the streets where they were seen....and a large protest at the courthouse on Saturday.

So that was in my mind as well as I wrote this. Let me know what you think in the comments. 

Texts: Philippians 1:21-30; Matthew 20: 1-16

 +++

So…now we arrive at the sermon.

And in the same way that we came up with the “Collect of the Day”….the typical sermon in an Episcopal Church consists of the thoughts and reflections that your preacher has had on the Scriptures shared during the worship.

Other traditions allow the preacher to go far afield from the texts we’ve read and heard.

But our particular branch of the Jesus Movement believes that its best to stick the Scriptures…and to use this time as a chance to not only reflect upon the Word of God…but to consider how that Word of God is still relevant and speaking to us now…and commenting on our lives as we are living them in the 21^st century.

Some preachers insist that a sermon must incorporate something from ALL the texts…the Old Testament…the psalm…the Epistle reading…and the Gospel.

Others say that we must preach only on the Gospel.

I prefer not to be so rigid.

So…today for example…what struck me in going through the lectionary readings assigned for this particular Sunday…was both our Gospel about the landowner and the laborers he hired to work in his vineyard…and a line from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians…which speaks not only to themes in the Gospel…but to life here in our context on a Sunday in September in Lowndes County.

Now…y’all are pretty accustomed to me and my tendency to want to tell you “the story behind the story” of our readings.

So let me start with the Gospel…and this parable Jesus is sharing.

First…this tale of the landowner and the laborers only appears in Matthew’s Gospel.

And it comes right after Jesus has the exchange with the rich young man who wants to know what else he needs to do to inherit eternal life…y’know…besides following the basics of the ten commandments.

And when Jesus tells him that perfection requires giving up all of his “things” and following in the path of Jesus…the young man goes away sulking.

And then Jesus says the part about how it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.

The disciples get upset.

Peter notes that the disciples have given up everything to follow Jesus…and Jesus basically says, “Yes, you have…and because you have…you will be rewarded in many more ways because you’ve chosen the path to life…to the liberty and freedom found in God. Because those who keep clinging to other things will be last…and you…the ones who have unburdened yourselves to follow me… will be first”

All of that is the set up for this allegory he tells about this landowner and the workers.

And let’s just get it out there: it’s not fair!

I don’t know about you…but whenever I read this story in Matthew…that’s the immediate thought I have.

I know what it’s like to be in that first group and when I see the ones who haven’t had to do as much work get rewarded the same as me…I get frustrated and angry.

Our sense of fairness says that when we’re the ones who’ve put in more time and sweat equity …we should get something more than the one who just arrived on the job.

That’s how things work in our economy.

And in our minds…that’s the way things ought to be.

And what Jesus is saying is that in God’s economy….no one is better…more worthy… more special than anyone else.

All who come to work in the vineyard…whether they’ve been there all day…or just showed up…they’re all the same.

This applies to those in the faith.

Those who just stumbled into the church for the first time and found in Jesus “a brother like no other”…they are on equal footing with those who’ve made a regular practice of church attendance for their whole lives.

The citizenship in God’s country is the same. And for God…all the citizens participating in the work in the vineyard are welcome.

God’s love is just that generous…and it’s on us to realize that God’s ways and thoughts…are bigger and more expansive than our own.

And we are still called on to do our best to try to love a little more…without feeling jealous that others…in God’s eyes…are also loveable.

Which gets me to Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

Some quick background on this passage.

We know Paul wrote this letter from jail…but we don’t know from which jail cell.
The man spent a lot of time in and out prison as he traveled…and planted churches.

But the gist of this particular letter is encouraging the members of the church at Philippi to stay focused…and not let their eyes look around at their opponents…or anyone else…and get pulled away from their true purpose.

We hear Paul say:

“…live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ…”

Here’s another translation of Paul’s statement.

This is from the Bible: The First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament.

And I think this makes the point even plainer…
“Whatever happens, you should walk in a manner that brings honor to the good story about the Chosen One.”

Our mission…the big ask of us… is to live our lives in a way that honors and affirms what the Jesus of the Gospels stood for:

A mission to make this a world where everyone is treated with dignity and respect…whoever they are… whatever labels they’ve adopted or society has placed on them… and wherever they are on their faith journey.

And to be assured that all who are engaged in that work of Love have received their daily bread….just as promised.

What does that mean?

It means that when we see suffering…we respond.

We don’t close our eyes and cover our ears…or shut our mouths.

But we stand with those who are vulnerable…even when that costs us our status and causes us to suffer.

“Suffering” in this instance doesn’t mean we’re writhing in pain and agony. But it does mean we feel compassion…and that word compassion means “to suffer with” another person…and with God’s creatures.

And compassion comes in many forms and expressions.

It can be putting our bodies on a protest line…or speaking up to the powerful at governmental meetings.

Others live out their compassion by giving from their abundance to help those who need food…or clothing…or shelter.

Some do it by going to court. Much as lawyers get a bad rap…they’re doing good work when they help a person who is in trouble.

And some show it through getting a team of people together to pick up trash in a neighborhood.

However we do it…when we follow the model of Christ’s compassion in how we approach others…we are doing the work of the Gospel.

And it is all good.

So…that is how I have prayed through…and understood these readings.

I have done this work faithfully…consulting different scriptural texts for interpretation…and looking over commentary resources. And I hope that what I have said has reflected well upon our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.

A lot of preachers tend to say “Amen” at the end of their sermons.

I do not.

That’s because the “Amen” at the end of a sermon really belongs to the congregation. It’s how you affirm that you have heard and received what has been said.

Something like saying, “Yes, me too!”

And so…if the church is so moved…let the church now say:

Amen!