Even God Cannot Be Alone - A Holy Trinity Sermon

Just finished up my draft for tomorrow's sermon at Saint Peter's Church where I serve as Vicar.  It's still a rough draft (particularly the ending), but I'd love to hear what you think:

Even God cannot be alone. Even God cannot be alone… for God only does the amazing work She does, in Holy Trinity, in Community. Even in Her oneness, God cannot be alone, for She only does the amazing work She does in Community. And in giving us just a hint about how that Community of the Trinity works in today’s gospel story by recording some of the final words of Jesus before his betrayal and arrest, Saint John shows extraordinary foresight. He shows extraordinary foresight because he realizes that God’s gathered people on Earth, the people that are literally the Body of Christ, will face new things… they will face new troubles, new challenges and new opportunities. In other words, Saint John knows we, the Body of Christ, will face change, and he knows we need assurance that the Community of the Trinity will be at work in that change.

Knowing that we will face change Saint John highlights the fact that Jesus is sending us an Advocate, a Spirit, the very Breath of God to lead us, to comfort us, to guide us into truth. Just listen again to the words of Saint John crying out to us from across millennia:

[Jesus said to his disciples,] I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Community of the Trinity is indeed at work in change… the Community of the Trinity is at work through the Spirit guiding us into truth, but there seems to be a big problem with what Jesus said… maybe it jumped out at you right away. The problem is that sometimes, and especially in the most rapidly changing and perhaps troubling of times, Jesus’ promise doesn’t seem to ring true. Whether confronting chaotic change in our personal lives or in the collective life of our faith communities, Jesus’ promise of the Spirit doesn’t seem to ring true… it can feel like there’s no Advocate, no Breath of God leading us into truth.

For many of us, myself included, this past year has been one of those times in particular, a year filled with immense challenge, a year filled with immense change, a year in which drowned in chaos, many of us have strained to feel the Spirit’s presence at all. In addition to whatever was going on in our own personal lives, let’s just do a quick recap of the immense changes and challenges our region, our city and our parish have faced over the last year: This past October many parts of our city and region were ravished by Hurricane Sandy, including many areas to have yet to fully recover. Around the same time we were also facing the anxiety of a bitter presidential election season, only to hear the devastating news a month later of the brutal murder of twenty children and six adult staff just north of us in Connecticut. The winter provided only a bit of a break… while certainly not bad news and in fact a great opportunity, the resignation of Pope Benedict and election of Pope Francis was still major change for a church that many of us hold dear to our hearts, and this thus brought about the stress that all major changes do. Increased tensions with a nuclear-armed North Korea also didn’t help matters. Continuing on, this April we were confronted by news of the Boston Marathon bombings, only to later hear that the perpetrators thought of coming to New York and setting off more bombs in Times Square. Only last weekend our city was rocked by news of the murder of Mark Carson in the West Village, killed out of hate because he was gay. Add onto all this hard decisions about staff reductions and budget cuts here at Saint Peter’s and the loss of our beloved Santa Clause, John Rusinak… folks, its easy to see that its been one heck of a year. It’s been one heck of a year, and many of us have understandably asked at times, “Where is God in all of this?”

Yet, there is immensely good news in such a dire situation. There is immensely good news in the fact that not even God can be alone, there is immensely good news in the fact that that God cannot be alone and that She only does the work She does in Holy Trinity, in Community. And, my sisters and brothers, there is immensely good news in the fact that God does not want us to be alone either. You see we too are invited into Community with God, as the Holy Spirit does the oftentimes slow, careful yet immensely powerful work of gathering us up together into the Body of Christ. While we held each other and wept at John Ruzinak’s funeral, the Spirit was there, gathering us up. While we sat at brunch and comforted folks who were flooded out of their homes or places of work by Hurricane Sandy, the Spirit was there, gathering us up. While we stood in worship doing the hard work of praying for not only the victims of the Newtown shootings and the Boston marathon bombings, but for the perpetrators of those heinous crimes as well as Christ commands us to do, the Spirit was there, gathering us up into the Body of Christ.

And ya know, even in the face of such a difficult year, Saint Peter’s has been doing amazing things in Christ, amazing things that have been celebrated and need to be celebrated, as the Spirit is there, gathering us up. Just look at this past weekend… I mean it was absolutely amazing… the work you folks are doing made the Bishop and many others cry tears of joy at brunch. You made the Bishop cry. And while wiping away his tears, Bishop Rembo said that our local iteration of the Body of Christ, our local expression of the Church here at Saint Peter’s is being exactly what the Church needs to be in this time, in this place, in this city. In a time when it’s trendy to talk about being a multi-cultural church, Saint Peter’s is actually doing the hard work of making it happen. There have of course been difficulties as we’ve entered into our new covenant relationship with Sion, but whether its been working through scheduling problems, surmounting communications barriers or simply dealing with our albs being hung up in the wrong place in the sacristy, those difficulties have been juxtaposed with joyous scenes of members of both congregations worshiping together, talking with one another about immigration reform on a Saturday afternoon and literally dancing with each other during Jazz for All last weekend. And in all these challenges and successes, the Spirit has been there with us, gathering us up into Community, gathering us up into the Body of Christ.

In a time when it’s trendy to talk about being a welcoming church, about being a resource for our local community, Saint Peter’s is actually doing the hard work of making it happen. There have of course been problems here as well, but whether it’s dealing with the frustration of not having enough space, or being extra protective of our communion wine or being rightfully angry about things being taped up on a freshly painted set of doors, those difficulties have been juxtaposed with joyous scenes of the Living Room being filled with folks getting a hearty breakfast on Christmas morning, of five folks showing up early at Federal Plaza to support their fellow congregation member seeking asylum status and this Sanctuary filled to capacity, worshiping together and learning about our heritage at the memorial vespers last weekend. And once again, in all these challenges and successes, the Spirit has been there with us, gathering us up into Community, gathering us up into the Body of Christ.

Even God cannot be alone, and She will not let us be alone either, and that is amazingly good news.  But I’ve been going on for a while already, and could keep going all morning, but we do have some Eucharist and some praying and some singing and the like to get to, so I’m going to conclude not with my own words, but with the prayerful words Christopher Vergara wrote for our Pentecost celebration last weekend, words that couldn’t describe any better how the Spirit has been work at Saint Peter’s over the last few months, gathering us up into Community with the Holy Trinity, gathering us up into the Body of Christ:

Up in the air
almost a 1000 cranes
Up in the air
70 hours of folding
6 emails about what shades of red orange and yellow to use
400 yards of fishing line
12 hrs in the catwalk
Up in the air
More smashed than folded 2yo desire to participate
Up in the air
A seminary field workers last Sunday
Up in the air
A mother and son's competition to see who is fastest
Up in the air
3 angry mothers on Mother's Day
Up in the air
Paper chaperones to teenage courting
Up in the air
Questions...
What are you doing?
What are those for?
Can I help
What is the next step?
What physically happens to us when we die?
Up in the air
Dealing with a parents death
Up in the air
Waiting...
Waiting for mass to end
Waiting for a mtg to start
Waiting for yoga, the opera, for poached salmon
Sitting waiting for another round of chemo
Up in the air
Another bombing
Up in the air
A shooting
Up in the air
A funeral for Santa Clause
Another deportation hearing
Another shooting
Up in the air
the fear that things will never change
Up in the air
The fear that things are changing to quickly
All these our joys and troubles we lift
Up in the air
Into your warm embrace O God
Trusting, trusting....
That there is nothing
Under the sea
On the ground or
Up in the air
That could ever separate us from your love and peace
In the name of our holy advocate, the Holy Spirit AMEN.

God's peace,
Dustin  

Dustin currently serves as Vicar at the Lutheran Office for World Community and Saint Peter's Church in Manhattan, having recently completed his second year of a Masters of Divinity program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. While seeking ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, his focus is on the intersection between worship, service and justice in de-centralized faith communities unencumbered by a traditional church building. In his free time, Dustin likes playing frisbee, hiking and pretending to know how to sing.

Celebrate!!

Manuscript of the sermon I preached this Sunday @ Christ the King, Wilbraham.  Enjoy!!


Often the purpose of a sermon is to explain a detailed theological concept based on the day’s readings or perhaps to invite us to deeply explore an aspect of our faith. Whatever its purpose might be, a sermon can often get complicated, frequently trying to explain a somewhat nuanced message. In stark contrast however, I think the message of today’s readings is a refreshingly simple one: let go of your perceived limitations! Celebrate where you are! In this joyous season of Easter celebrate the glory of the risen Christ! Celebrate God’s work that has been done… and celebrate God’s many blessings! Even if everything isn’t perfect, know that in Christ, anything is possible… and celebrate that fact! Whether it’s in our own lives, the life of the congregation here at Christ the King or the life of the wider church, it’s important to recognize both the positives and negatives of life, both past and present. Recognizing past missteps allows us to release and grow past them; celebrating God’s continued triumph through our lives brings greater clarity to some of the amazing opportunities God’s calling us to.

 

Next Sunday marks the completion of my immersion experience, and while there’s still a week to go, I’ve already begun to reflect on the invaluable experiences I’ve had and the amazing people I’ve met at Christ the King. The major goal of any Project Connect immersion experience is to help people decide whether or not they are called to ordained ministry… and I’m happy to say that you guys haven’t scared me away! In fact, my time spent here has completely reaffirmed my sense of call and I’m extremely excited about my future… things are going great, there’s certainly a lot to celebrate, and it’s in part thanks to all of you.

 

As I continue to reflect on my time here and celebrate my successes however, it’s also important to recognize that this period of discernment didn’t always look so great. In particular I have a crystal clear memory of one night this past September. I was sitting by the water at York Beach in Maine, about half an hour from where I was still living in New Hampshire, and reflecting with a close friend about how scared I was of the future. I had decided to leave Thrivent Financial for Lutherans about a month earlier to work in a job that would allow more time for me to actively discern whether or not I wanted to go into ministry… and my careful crafted plan for that period of transition had completely failed. After many expensive car repairs and dealing with a job market that was even worse than I expected, I was facing the issue of being nearly broke with no job. With my apartment lease soon up, I was also dealing with the prospect that I’d have to move back to dad’s house, something that I felt pretty ashamed of at the time. I was really beginning to doubt my decision to leave my well paying job with Thrivent, and more importantly I thought I had many personal limitations that wouldn’t allow me to be the great pastor I wanted to be.

 

Looking back on it, that evening was one of those rare turning points in life… standing on the edge of a sort of spiritual precipice I was presented with one of two options. I could easily step back from the edge, give into my perceived limitations, and follow that all too human need for comfort in what’s familiar… or I could celebrate who I was, have some faith in God’s call, and take that leap into a future of amazing opportunity.

I don’t think of that story as at all unique to me however… we all have those moments in life. We all have our own “road to Damascus moments”, where much like Saul, as we let go of our perceived limitations, the scales fall from our eyes, allowing us to celebrate… who we are. Only with that recognition and celebration of who we are can we step into the amazing future God is calling us to. In today’s gospel story, even after seeing all the amazing miracles of God’s love through Jesus, Peter still had denied Him… Peter stepped back from that spiritual precipice and just went fishing. Unlike some of the other gospels, there’s no definitive timeline in the Gospel of John… we really don’t know how long Peter went back to the comfortable familiarity of fishing. However long it was though, in Jesus, God still met Peter where he was… whether it is was four weeks after the crucifixion or four years. Sometimes in our lives, or in the life of our congregation, we might be right up on that spiritual precipice and decide to step back… and sometimes I think God might be calling us to do that too. We still should take the time let go of our perceived limitations, celebrate God’s very real achievements through us… but then rest in that joyful celebration. And even if we’re not following God’s call by stepping back from that spiritual precipice… through faith we know that God’s still going to meet us wherever we are.

Going quickly back to the example of my own life, while I may have taken that leap of faith six months back, I have no intention to do so again for at least the next few months… soon after I’m done here at Christ the King I’ll be heading back up to Camp Calumet for my eighth full summer on staff. After taking a leap and having a period of extreme turbulence in my life, I think it’s really important to celebrate what God’s achieved in me with the people I care most about. That doesn’t mean I won’t experience any new challenges at all this summer or that I won’t still be working hard… far from it, as I finally found out I’ll be running the Counselor in Training program for the first time… but it does mean I’ll be recharging for what’s ahead of me at seminary in the fall… and that’s what in the end celebrating is really all about. Whether we step back from that spiritual precipice or not, recognizing and celebrating who we are allows us to know why we’re stepping back… are we stepping back from God’s call because we’re afraid of the future or are we stepping back to recharge for what God really is calling us to do next?

During the children’s moment today, we took some time to recognize and say thanks for the many ministries you’re all a part of at Christ the King… to celebrate all the good stuff God has going on here. I imagine you may be wondering why it was decided to do so. Here’s why: I made it a major goal for myself over the past few months to take in as much information as possible from everyone here and in doing so I wanted to provide some legitimate outside perspective of congregational life at Christ the King. Through many talks over dinner, conversations during coffee hour or time spent at adult forums, a few common narratives seemed to develop. First, I heard how the congregation had come a long way over the past few years and how a lot of tough stuff has been successfully worked out. Second, I heard a lot about how while things were in general going good at Christ the King, there were still a lot of challenges: how there was a budget deficit, how there were more jobs than people to fill them, etc. Third, I also heard about what some of the strengths of the congregation were: a great music program, and great ability to welcome guests, and of course a great pastor.

There were two things I didn’t hear however that sort of surprised me: first, what I perceived as your greatest strength wasn’t often mentioned. As I look out at the congregation today seeing all your smiling or perhaps bored faces… it’s been a long sermon, it’s easy to realize that everyone I see here is actively participating in one of the many ministries of Christ the King. Everyone’s doing something! At least compared to the other congregations I know of, that’s a really incredible thing and I think its something to be recognized and celebrated.

Second, while I heard about many amazing individual ministries here, I don’t think I really heard a general sense about what was next… where God was calling the congregation to use its many gifts. It might be that Christ the King is called to celebrate the successes of recent years and rest in that celebration… or it might be that you’re on that spiritual precipice and God is calling you to soon take that next leap of faith. I myself have no idea what’s next for everyone here, but I do know there’s should be one common denominator: recognize your gifts and celebrate where you are… you deserve it! God’s peace.