March 19, 2000
Believe it or not, the date for starting our Fulfill the vision Campaign was chosen independently of the lectionary. The Campaign committee with the Vestry's approval decided March 19th would be the right day to start our campaign.
The preaching schedule, too, has a logic independent of the lectionary and for the most part independent of the church calendar of activities. And I hope I'm not the only one here to believe that God's own hand can be discerned in the fact that today's readings talk about love, sacrifice and trust—qualities that will serve us well in our campaign and all our lives.
None of us are likely to be asked by God to sacrifice our child simply because God asks. None of us will have to walk the way of Abraham, though we will be asked over and over to make sacrifices, sometimes for God, that seem beyond us. However, all of us are asked to deny our very selves, and take up our cross, in order to follow Jesus. He couldn't have made it any clearer. We will have to walk in his steps.
Today, like Abraham, we look back and see the hand of the God blessing, guiding, protecting, nurturing us and we look ahead, not quite sure what will come next, not quite sure that God's hand will be there blessing, guiding, protecting, and nurturing us. Even for the strongest in faith, the future is always uncertain. It is possible that danger and tragedy lie just around the corner, even for those whose faith is strong enough to move mountains. Will God be there for us?
Today with the words of Jesus resting upon our hearts, knowing that we must take up our cross in order to follow him, we wonder what will that cross be like? Will we have the grace to bear it? Will God be there for us? Will we be able to love like that—risking it all in love? Even for the strongest among us, even for those brash enough to say right out loud "I will follow you Jesus, no matter what" even for them, the questions of the heart persist: "Will I be able to risk it all in love?"
Today, into our discomfort, into our wondering and questions, we draw strength from the words of Paul, words spoken in the midst of his own uncertainties (he was on his way to judgement and death as he wrote these words of hope and trust and love). We draw strength from these words and these stories today as we launch our campaign to Fulfill the Vision.
In the brilliant light of the scriptures just read, let me place another story. It is a story so extraordinary it becomes inspirational. It is a story so ordinary, it could be ours.
Glenn Pashin, in his book Turning Point (New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1992), tells about an event that occurred during his senior year in college, in the midst of the Great Depression. His family did not have the money for the first quarter's tuition, though tuition for a quarter at Northeast Missouri State where he attended was only twenty dollars—and that included books! His father did not have twenty dollars. But he said, "Don't worry, Son. We'll go to the bank, and I'll sign your note with you. We'll get the money." They went to the bank the next morning. The banker had tears in his eyes as he shook his head. The directors had instructed him that without collateral, no loan. There seemed to be no way Glenn could go to college that year. But the day before he was supposed to leave, a big truck backed up to their house, and two men laid down some boards from the truck bed to the front porch. He wasn't there that afternoon, but afterward he heard what happened.
There was one thing his mother loved more than anything in the world, besides family and Jesus, and that was her Gulbranson piano. It was the only decent piece of furniture they had. But the men rolled it out of the house, onto the boards, and into the truck. The driver reached into the pocket of his overalls, pulled out some bills, and handed his mother a twenty, a ten, and a five. Then they got into the truck and drove off with the pride of his mother's life. His father threw his arms around her, and she cried and cried. That night his mother couldn't even talk about it, so his father told him, "Son, you can go back to college tomorrow. Your mother sold her piano." Then he handed Glenn the money. Afterward Glenn understood, That's love like God's love. The most precious possession He had was His only Son, and yet He gave Him up to be disgraced and crucified so that we could learn to love like that!
Jesus' journey to the cross is an example of love for us to follow. It is a journey of denying self so that others might have a better life. (1) Nothing could be clearer, and yet for all its clarity, a love like that, the denial of self, the giving of self so that others might have a better life, is a constant challenge, a never ending work undertaken by you and me, Jesus' disciples. We want to have a love like that. We want to follow Jesus more nearly day by day, in every way. That is why we are here.
We are here, too, because in this place we can encounter other disciples who have understood what is asked of them, and have begun to follow. Here we encounter men and women (single and married, straight and gay, young and old) who have chosen to make sacrifices because it is the right thing to do, it is the way of Jesus. I look out and see men and women who have made sacrifices for their children in a thousand big and small ways. The mom or dad who chose to stay home to be there for the kids; the mom and dad who chose to live more simply so that one of them could remain in the home. I see men and women who left opportunities for advancement of career in order to provide opportunities for their children like developing long lasting friendships or for the chance to have that one special teacher in the present school.
We are here because we encounter stories of the tender love of a husband caring for an ailing wife. We are here because we encounter women who have devoted their energies to caring for a husband dying of cancer. We are here because we are surrounded by others, single and married, who have taken up the care of an elderly or frail parent, or relative, or friend. We are here because in following Jesus and the way of the cross, we find others who, in following Jesus' way, have passed up opportunities for self-fulfillment in order to serve others in the public arena.
This is a place where our young, our children and grandchildren, can learn of the love, like God's, that gives away its most prized possession knowing that another will have a better life. We want to love like that, we want to grow in a love like that, we want our young ones to love like that and grow in a love like that. We need each other to encourage, and model, and support us in our journey home to the source of that love. So, we share stories of that love as we share our lives with each other at St. Margaret's. We live that love. We come back to worship again and again to grow in that sacrificial love that trusts—despite our questions—that indeed, God will be there for us. God will provide for us.
This is the place where the Vision sees all the way to the truth of Paul's words. When it is the darkest, when it is the most frightening, when it is the most depressing, when it is the hardest to follow the way of Jesus—in fact, when it is impossible to see Jesus or feel his presence—then it is the time to say right out loud nothing can separate me from his love, not this darkness, not this fright, not this gloom that depresses me so, not even death itself can separate me from the love of God given in Jesus. I am able to love like that. I want to love like that. I will follow Jesus, nothing can get in my way, more importantly, nothing can get in his way. God's love shining in and through me cannot be defeated! AMEN.
The Rev. Daniel Rondeau
drondeau@stmargarets.org
19 March 2000