Circle II: Catching People

We are reflecting upon the circles in, or lacking in, our life. It seems evident that whenever a person senses and follows the call of the divine in their life, they are drawn together with others who affirm, resonate, encourage, and challenge our life. We see this in the life of Jesus, we see this in the life of the disciples, of Paul, of the saints, of the church. People called and drawn together for the sake of mutual purpose, work, and love. Simply put, the journey in God is always done in community, in circles.

Jack Mapes was a man who lived his life amidst circles. He told me this was not the case before he became spiritually renewed. But in 1977, Jack and Hazel attended the faith alive weekend here at St. Andrew, and Jack had an experience like Peter did in the Gospel this morning. Jesus got in Jack’s boat (though in Jack’s case, perhaps Jesus got into Jack’s dentist chair) and Jack told Jesus, “Lord, you can’t sit in my chair, I have too many other patients to deal with”. Jesus said, “don’t be so anxious, Jack, follow me and you will be catching people”.

After that weekend in 1977, Jack and Hazel opened their home and invited any and all who wished to share circle with them. That circle remained for over 40 years. That was not the only circle Jack would make. He met in a men’s prayer breakfast for decades. He would gather with others to intercede on behalf of the church in the chapel. He and Hazel maintained the circle of fellowship here at St. Andrew by being present every Sunday for over 50 years. When you live your life in a circle, your life is shared. Your life is known, it is loved, it is needed, it is supported.

In 1978, I experienced a similar awakening as Jack did a year earlier. Jesus got in my boat. Unlike Peter’s and Jack’s, my boat was just bobbing in the water, not really going anywhere. But Jesus said the same thing he said to Peter and Jack, “Don’t be afraid, Richard, follow me and you will be catching people”. I don’t really like that phrase “catching people”, but as I have watched it lived out in my own life, and in the lives of people like Jack Mapes, or Liz Karavitis, or Doug and Vicki Miller, or in Rick Alexander’s life, and in Annie Lightsey’s life, and in Chuck and Mel Lewis’, I think what it means is we cease living our lives simply for ourselves, with ourselves and by ourselves, and we let our life become a circle. Your heart opens, your mind believes, your home welcomes, your arms offer a wide embrace. People come into your life and your life becomes a place that others sense acceptance, affirmation, love, encouragement, partnership, support, inspiration, joy. Prayers, once religious requests, take on the spirit of bringing persons into the realm of grace and wisdom and blessing and family.

I watch the choir come together year after year after year. They love to sing and bring the music that Rick and Danny lead them in. But, what is really keeping them together? I think it is because they are a family, a circle together. They experience friendship, encouragement, help in times of need, and joy of being together. Rick doesn’t simply lead them in the music, he leads them in a circle. In fact, ever since I arrived at St. Andrew, only a few months after Rick Alexander had been called to St.Andrew, I believed that Jesus had jumped in Rick’s boat. Like Peter did, I have watched Rick shy away from being the person Jesus saw Rick to be. “ Jesus, what are you doing in my boat”, Rick would say, “I am Gay.” But Jesus said the same thing he said to Peter, and to Jack, and to me… “Do not be afraid, Rick, Follow me and you will catch people”. Rick and Allen live their life in a circle, in community, in mutual love and care with persons who have shared their life for years. The choir is not simply a Sunday morning and Thursday rehearsal experience. It is a sacred and loving circle they share amongst themselves and welcome others to share it.

I missed the Pilgrim’s experience this year. Since 2005, at least for me, it became a cyclical community that a number of us would share year after year. Every year, along with so many others here in the parish we would gather on Tuesdays for a shared meal, reflection of the seasons of the church, the scriptures, the liturgy, Benedictine spirituality. It was a circle that moved with the seasons, shared intensely by a few of us, shared in some degree or another by the whole parish. The Pilgrims circle moved in the Benedictine cycle, the Gospel story, the cosmic circle of coming in for renewal and going out for meaningful work. We would gather together to walk through the life of Jesus from advent to Easter and we would disperse to be sent out into the world filled by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

This year was a year for stepping back to review and reimagine what we offer for initiation and annual spiritual formation in and through the parish. I am extending a call out to all who wish to help restructure and organize our cathecumenal and spiritual formation pilgrimage at St. Andrew.

I think sharing life in a circle is how people catch people. I don’t think evangelism

and conversion is what Jesus meant by catching people. Annie likes to say we

collect people. We are drawn into relationship and care. Circles emerge and we

find our lives receiving others. If your life is open you will draw others into circles

 of care and companionship. This is what it means to catch people. To walk with

people, laugh with people, cry with, pray with, suffer with people, rejoice with,

live with, and love people.

When Jesus gets in your boat and tells you “follow me, from now on you will catch people”, say yes, and watch your life become a circle. A circle of mutual care, accountability, beloved community: loving one another and the world we all share.

Amen

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Life In Circle

Our journey in Epiphany has covered the visitation of the Magi, the emergence of Jesus out of silence and anonymity into the waters of the Jordan to be baptized by John the Baptist, to the unique light that Jesus brought to his world and time, leaving us to ask the question, What is the light that we bring to our world and time? For what is Epiphany if it is not about light? The dawning of light amidst the darkness. The light of compassion, of wellness, of kindness and justice, of care for the sick, the poor, the ones pushed to the margins by cultural dominance and preference.

From the beginning of Epiphany I have wanted to talk about circles. Circles of relationship – support – encouragement – and exhortation. Our world and time boasts of global connection and community through the internet, but all are in agreement we suffer from a lack of human community. The more that grows available through technology, the less we cultivate in reality. Creation, human kind included, need to live in circles – circles of family, friendship, support, protection, companionship, community that work together for the benefit of one another and the blessing of the world in which they live.

If you have read the gospel story, then you know that the life of Jesus was all about living in a circle. In the gospel of Luke, which is written to reflect historical accuracy, Jesus emerges out of the quiet life of Galilee into the waters where John is baptizing. He is then compelled to go out into the desert to experience 40 days and nights of solitude and vision for his life. He returns from the 40 days of solitude and according to all three synoptic gospels, goes back to his home and begins a public ministry.

Based upon the story in Luke, Jesus begins his public ministry alone. He goes to the synagogue in Nazareth where he proclaims a provocative interpretation from the Prophet Isaiah, creates such a negative impression he is almost pushed off a cliff by an angry mob. He survives that encounter, moves from a teaching ministry to a healing ministry, where he manages to gain both fans and adversaries. But early into his public ministry Jesus realizes he cannot do this life without a circle. So he begins to call persons who he perceives will share his life, and with whom he can share in their life.

I was raised in a big Irish catholic family. There were 8 of us who lived at 1417 El Rancho Drive, and my earliest memories were all about big family life. Dinners together, going to baseball games, swim matches, and holidays. I was the youngest, and as my life evolved from childhood to adolescents, I could plot on a graph the decline of my family circle. As the circle of my family eroded, my sense of isolation and loneliness grew.

By the time I was fifteen, the circle of eight had pretty much diminished to a circle of 2. Though all of my family members were alive, the circle of family had been broken. As any of us reflect upon life, we could all share a similar story. The emergence and diminishment of the circles we share. But just because a circle is ebbing, we are not restrained to build new circles of life and community. In fact, in a round world, it is necessary. There are always new lives, new needs, changing environments that bring the fall and rise of circles in our life.

At 18, I emerged from the broken circle that was my family and high school friends into the circle of a church community. Now I was raised in an Irish Catholic Church, but I never knew that church as a circle of community. It was a place we belonged and we attended, but at least I did not experience the church as circle. Perhaps it was the estrangement and brokenness of my own family life that kept us marginalized from parish life. For whatever reason, I was 18 years old when I experienced a sense of community in a church. And I took to it like a duck takes to water.

A spiritual awakening coincided with a social awareness, that family was not the only family we had. We have a sacred family between humankind and all other parts of creation. We are not here, alone. We are here, together. We are not a dot on a board, a segment of a line, but we are part of a body, a sacred, celestial, universal body. And our life is to be lived in micro – how the whole universe exists in macro – infinitely and eternally coexisting – co-creating, co-evolving, co-habitating –in mutual interdependence and rhythmical balance with all other.

Life, in its smallest and remote manifestation to its infinitely unmeasurable reality, is lived in a circle – a web of mutual care, love, acceptance, and belonging. Jesus taught this. The Buddha taught this. Mohammed teaches this. The Torah teaches this. All the sacred and scientific traditions teach that humankind was not intended to live alone. We live in circle – having all things in common – mutually committed to the sharing of resources, spending much time together, breaking bread together, sharing glad and generous hearts together, praising the Divine Spirit in all things together, and working for the goodwill of all. In case you do not recognize those words, it was the description of the earliest church in Jerusalem recorded in the second chapter of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. So… for the remainder of Epiphany I wish to talk about circles. The circles we share – and perhaps the circles we lack.

Last week I concluded with the question, what is the unique light you bring or wish to bring to this time and your world? Keep asking yourself that question, and add a second question to it. What is or are the circles in my life?

Amen

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The Light Of St. Andrew

As we gather together today to share the community and well-being of this parish, I am drawn to the message of Epiphany, and to the question, “What is the light our parish bears to our times, and our city, and to our world?” That is the message of Epiphany, right? Amidst the darkness that shrouds the earth, God has given a light to shine. Because in the mystery of the divine word made flesh, God has caused a new light to shine in our hearts, we proclaim in the Epiphany preface at the Eucharist.

So what is the light that we, at St. Andrew, bring to our world? Our nation? Our city?

We bear the light of the ancient and sacramental faith that proclaims the incarnation of God in our world today. In our faith, matter matters, and how we treat our selves, treat our neighbor, and treat the creation from which we have been formed…matters. Every part of creation bears the image of God, of God’s beauty, God’s imagination, God’s creativity. Our fellowship is not simply with one another, but with all creation.

I believe St. Andrew Episcopal Church has cultivated a reputation in this city. It is a place where the many lines that divide and define people in our culture are intentionally and mindfully blurred, if not erased. It is a place where unity and community is extended beyond our belief, our ethnicity, sexuality, politics, nationality, and all the other ways people are excluded and defined. Why does the light of inclusion and mutual respect for all people and creation shine in our midst? Because this is the faith and life we have received, it is the catholic faith passed down through all the ages, the light of common humanity reflected in the divine embrace of the whole creation through the mystery of the incarnation. The whole earth is filled with God’s glory, and who are we to diminish the glory of God in anyone or anything, simply because they are different?

We bear the light of the beauty and creativity of God and creation. When Jesus emerged in his generation, he represented a different view and voice than what had become the dominant voice of religion. Christianity, as it is wielded and perceived in popular culture, is no longer the faith and teaching of a suffering servant, but has become a battle-ram in the hands of religious and political bullies.

God incarnate in Jesus was a poet, a teacher, a healer, a community builder, a gracious guest, a humble leader, a bridge between factions and cultures, a willing sacrifice for the sake of others. The life of Jesus was beautiful, it was filled with poetic rhythm and voice. His life evolved like the seasons of the earth, from incubation to resurrection, like a seed that falls from a grain of wheat that became the bread of life. This parish walks the path and shines the light of that eternal cycle from birth to death to re-birth every year. We are not identified by the political and cultural issues and struggles of our day, for in this place people dwell together with diverse perspectives. We are identified by the eternal rhythm of eternal life as it was lived in the life of Jesus, the Christ, and as it is revealed through the seasons of the earth.

And thirdly, we shine the light of community. From the earliest documents and records preserved through two millennia, Christian community was always intended to be lived like family. In this parish we are not members, attenders, supporters… we are family. We are known, we are loved, we are embraced and welcomed, we are prayed for…often. When one of us receives a serious diagnosis, we all bear the sorrow and concern. When any of us suffer loss, grief, anguish, we all accompany in one way or another that walk through the valley of shadows and deaths. We share many meals, together. We break bread, share the cup, offer the prayers, and pass the peace…not as strangers or acquaintances…but as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles. I can think of so many examples of the light of community that shines here at St. Andrew, but allow me to offer just this one. When Harley became a member of our family eight years ago, I have watched from the beginning how she did not simply gain the Lightseys as her new and loving family, she became a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister of this parish. This church, and its many members, became her family, just as it has been for all of us. The family, here, is not perfect, but it never resigns from its intention to being the beloved community of God in Christ.

Conclusion: When Jesus emerged amidst the landscape and culture of his day, he emerged with the light of love, of divine kinship, of healing and reconciliation, of grace and compassion, of peace and favor for the poor and powerless. We too, as a parish and a people can be a light to the landscape and culture of our day. The light of the ancient and catholic faith, the light of beauty and creativity, the light of community and universal family.

Amen

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The Feast Of The Epiphany

The season of Epiphany, and its message and significance to our universal spiritual journey, is too often diminished between the two more elevated seasons of Christmas and Lent. But if you think about it, the message of Epiphany is HUGE; it is the emerging light and life of the divine amidst the creation. If Christmas is the birth of Jesus, the Christ, and Lent is the end of life challenge and suffering of Jesus, the Christ, then what is Epiphany, but the very life and teaching and emergence of Jesus, the Christ?

Epiphany begins with the long journey and visitation of wise men from the east to pay homage to the recently born King of Israel. So let’s start there. Woven into our sacred story, from the beginning, is this idea of a unity of thought and connection between peoples of all nations and faiths. These pilgrims from another culture and religious tradition recognizing the gifts God has given the world through the people and faith of Israel.

I admire the sense of adventure and broad inclusion these wise pilgrims demonstrated through the journey to Bethlehem. Here we are, two thousand years later, and we still suffer the lack of this kind of mutual appreciation and respect of cultures and traditions other than our own. We worry about the rising influences in our culture that extend beyond our own ethnicity and religion. It is big news that for the first time in 242 years of the congress, the dress code that prohibited hats or headwear must be altered to allow newly elected Muslim congress woman, Ilan Omar, to wear her hijab in the halls of congress.

Most of us, myself included, have lived in a predominant culture that pronounced certain values and beliefs as the only perspectives and traditions that were correct. Christianity was not simply our faith, it was the only faith, and all others, were inferior, or even worse, dangerous and to be avoided if not eradicated from our culture. I find this pervasive microview of the naturally diverse and varied creation we live to be both troubling and sad. For too much of my life I have felt uncomfortable with recognizing and even exploring the gifts and wisdom and divinely inspired scriptures from faiths and traditions other than my own. For too much of my life I have felt that Christianity and the culture in which I was born and raised was all I needed. How narrow of me. How I have limited myself from the riches and wisdom that those other than my own, could bring to my life and my world.

But right in the heart of our own sacred story are wise men from the east, utilizing spiritual practices and traditions and wisdom of their own, to travel great distance and effort to pay homage to a King of a people not their own, given by a God they do not follow, to be enriched and enlightened by his very presence and all that it might mean.

I admit, this is a rather unconventional presentation that I am sharing this morning. It is more “orthodox” to present this visitation from the magi as a recognition that this Christ of the Jews was truly the Christ and Savior of the whole world, of all peoples and all traditions, and ultimately (if things are to go the way God intends them), all faiths, traditions, cultures will be brought to this true light and manifestation of God through this young boy, born amongst the Hebrew people.

But I think the perspective I am presenting holds a relevant and timely epiphany. It is actually a good thing, a wise thing, a godly thing, to go beyond your own familiar culture and tradition. It is a good thing to recognize the divine blessings other faiths and traditions bring to our world. Sacred stories and symbols other than our own bring great enrichment to our shared lives. Here is something even more provocative: I think this political and cultural crusade to keep America “Christian” is an example of very un-christlike behavior and ideals. The gifts of the Muslim tradition, the Jewish tradition, the pre-Christianized indigenous and folk traditions, the humanist traditions, bear rich and blessed gifts to our own tradition. This idea is promoted in our own baptismal vows that we will re-commit to together next week: Will you seek and serve Christ in ALL persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? AND will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

The world is rich, the universe unfathomable, and creation is beautiful because of the infinite and diverse gifts and blessings and sacraments offered in all their variation and sources. The gifts of the wise men from the east may not simply be frankincense, gold, and myrrh. The gift they offer, and it is much needed in today’s rising influences of separatism and culture wars, is the gift of paying homage to the divine gifts and presence provided to our world by peoples, faiths, and cultures other than our own.

Follow their example by taking the trouble and journey to explore and understand others, or at the very least, recognize the dignity of their existence, and return back to your own culture and faith, more blessed and enlightened than had you never bothered to leave or explore.

Amen

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