Bexley Hall has a School Song... and it is rather good.

So in the midst of my work in the archives of Bexley Hall a dinner card fell out with a dinner card that included the words for the Bexley Hall Call, or school song. I have no idea what tune it would originally been sung to (its metre is 11 11 11 5) but a friend and I went to the organ and played around with several possible settings and found that K. Lee Scott’s Shades Mountain fit rather perfectly. I find the whole thing rather endearing, if not exceptionally grande, and suggest we start singing it on a regular basis at all official events.

The Bexley Hall Call

O World, thy burning bush beside Kokosing,[1]

Through flames of life thine urgent Voice disclosing,

Calleth afar o’er woodland, hill, and hollow

We follow, follow

O Sky, thy birds fly north, fly south incessant,

Obeying signals of thy changing crescent,

All Doves of God, though winged like the swallow,

We follow, follow.

O Dawn, thy music sounds along the valley;

No living thing, on hearing it may dally;

O sweeter far than harp-strings of Apollo

We follow, follow.

O Voice of Love, beside the Jordan river!

It drew the fisherfolk, it draws us ever.[2]

It calls, it calls, o’er woodland, hill, and hollow

We follow, follow.

Author: Unknown

Tune: Shades Mountain

---

[1] Kokosing is a river in Ohio that runs near the original home of Bexley Hall

[2] Original Text: It drew the fishermen, it draws men ever

Prayers of the People based on the Beatitudes

The following is a Prayers of the People based on the beatitudes. While it would be functional anywhere the beatitudes are a lectionary reading on All Saints Day as well as a common reading for saints throughout the year.

Jesus went up the mountain, sat before the crowd, and began to speak. We are the crowd.

All:    May we listen, learn, and do. 

Richness and fullness in wealth, in knowledge, in spirit do not draw us to heaven. May we be filled with an emptiness and poverty that draws us ever closer to you. May we bring an end to emptiness and poverty that leaves any one isolated and without hope. Bless all with the kingdom of heaven. We are the crowd.

All: May we listen, learn, and do.

Clinging to existence we forget to live. Striving for long years we forsake years that are long. May we release those to whoms’ memories, we cling. May we acknowledge our sadness and loss. You are with those who have died, be with all those who mourn, make us the instruments of your comfort. We are the crowd.

All: May we listen, learn, and do

Longing for power, surety, and the status quo we create systems of privilege, false normals, and stagnation. May we cease to seek privilege and instead long for the dignity of all. May we cease to seek surety and instead long for growth. May we give up stagnation and embrace humility. Make us see the common humanity of all who live on this earth. We are the crowd.

All: May we listen, learn, and do.

Striving for satiation we surround ourselves with false comforts; in trying to be right we ignore the pain of others. Make us aware of the troubles and concerns around us, take away our security so that we might share that discomfort, bring us to hunger and thirst for righteousness so that everyone may be filled in truth. We are the crowd.

All: May we listen, learn, and do.

Anger fills us with a need for vengeance and harsh justice; we seek to lessen our pain by inflicting pain upon others. May we acknowledge our anger but not be held by it. May we seek justice for the wrongs done against us but not be defined by them. Give us the gift to be merciful with ourselves and merciful with others so that all may receive mercy. We are the crowd.

All: May we listen, learn, and do.

Refusing to look inward we carry emotional baggage, we leave parts of ourselves in shadow and darkness, we maintain ingrained habits and reactions. May we acknowledge our immaturity and a need to grow to more full and complete individuals. May we bring light into our inner darkness. Give us pure hearts oh God, so that we might see your face. We are the crowd.

All: May we listen, learn, and do.

Destruction, not creation, becomes the all too easy answer for conflict. May we elect and maintain governments that seek not a cessation of violence but the creation that is the true opposite of war. May we recognize that creating cultures of peace is as much the cumulative action of our day to day lives as it is the acts of those in power. God grant that we might always strive for peace, that we might be called the children of God. We are the crowd.

All: May we listen, learn, and do.

Limited as we are it is impossible to know and understand you fully. May we strive to discern when we are being persecuted for witnessing your truth and when we are being critiqued to know you more fully. May we never claim persecution in order to avoid necessary change. Grant that any adversity we face may bring us only closer to the truth of your kingdom. We are the crowd.

All: May we listen, learn, and do.

Christians throughout the world seek to walk the path that Jesus set for us. May we never walk the easy path of complacency. May we ever seek to speak your truth. May we never stop on the account of social stigma. May we ever seek to die to the world and live in Christ Crucified. Grant that we will continue to walk the way of the prophets and saints of old. We are the crowd. 

All: May we listen, learn, and do.

A Simple Easter Service

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A few people have been asking about a simple Easter service with families and small children in mind. I specifically left out service music, kept to hymns that are very simple, and grabbed Common Worship's EP H for its brevity. This service does NOT conform to the rubrics for a Principle Easter Service but could be used at a secondary service. It is generally not my inclination to combine the words Easter Service and Simple but I think this will work. Hope it is useful. 

Alleluia. Christ is risen.

The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.

Hymn 204            Now the Green Blade Riseth

God be with you.

And also with you.

Let us pray

Almighty God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

A lesson from the letter of Paul to the Romans

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Hear what the spirit is saying to God’s people.

Thanks be to God

Hymn 50            This is the day the Lord hath made

The Holy Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ According to Luke

Glory to you Lord Christ

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again." Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

The Gospel of the Lord

Praise to you Lord Christ

Sermon

We believe in one God,

    the Father, the Almighty,

    maker of heaven and earth,

    of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

    the only Son of God,

    eternally begotten of the Father,

    God from God, Light from Light,

    true God from true God,

    begotten, not made,

    of one Being with the Father.

    Through him all things were made.

    For us and for our salvation

        he came down from heaven:

    by the power of the Holy Spirit

        he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,

        and was made man.

    For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

        he suffered death and was buried.

        On the third day he rose again

            in accordance with the Scriptures;

        he ascended into heaven

            and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

    He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,

        and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

    who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

    With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.

    He has spoken through the Prophets.

    We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

    We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

    We look for the resurrection of the dead,

        and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Let us give thanks to God our Father for all his gifts so

freely bestowed upon us.

For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and

sky and sea.

We thank you, Lord.

For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women,

revealing the image of Christ,

We thank you, Lord.

For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and

our friends,

We thank you, Lord.

For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve,

We thank you, Lord.

For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play,

We thank you, Lord.

For the brave and courageous, who are patient in suffering

and faithful in adversity,

We thank you, Lord.

For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice,

We thank you, Lord.

For the communion of saints, in all times and places,

We thank you, Lord.

Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and

promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord;

To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and the

Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

O God, the power of the powerless,

you have chosen as your witnesses

those whose voice is not heard.

Grant that, as women first announced

the resurrection

though they were not believed,

we too may have courage

to persist in proclaiming your word,

in the power of Jesus Christ, Amen.[i]

The Peace of Christ be always with you.

And Also with you.

Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God.

Hymn 490 I want to Walk as a Child of the Light

The Lord is here.

The Spirit is with us.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give thanks and praise.

It is right to praise you, Father, Lord of all creation;

in your love you made us for yourself.

When we turned away

you did not reject us,

but came to meet us in your Son.

You embraced us as your children

and welcomed us to sit and eat with you.

In Christ you shared our life

that we might live in him and he in us.

He opened his arms of love upon the cross

and made for all the perfect sacrifice for sin.

                             

On the night he was betrayed,

at supper with his friends

he took bread, and gave you thanks;

he broke it and gave it to them, saying:

Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you;

do this in remembrance of me.

Father, we do this in remembrance of him:

his body is the bread of life.

                             

At the end of supper, taking the cup of wine,

he gave you thanks, and said:

Drink this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant,

which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins;

do this in remembrance of me.

Father, we do this in remembrance of him:

his blood is shed for all.

                             

As we proclaim his death and celebrate his rising in glory,

send your Holy Spirit that this bread and this wine

may be to us the body and blood of your dear Son.

As we eat and drink these holy gifts

make us one in Christ, our risen Lord.

                             

With your whole Church throughout the world

we offer you this sacrifice of praise

and lift our voice to join the eternal song of heaven:

                             

Holy, holy, holy Lord,

God of power and might,

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

As our Savior Christ

has taught us,

we now pray,

Our Father in heaven,

    hallowed be your Name,

    your kingdom come,

    your will be done,

        on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

    as we forgive those

        who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial,

    and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

    and the glory are yours,

    now and for ever. Amen.

Alleluia. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us;

Therefore let us keep the feast. Alleluia.

Most merciful Lord,

your love compels us to come in.

Our hands were unclean,

our hearts were unprepared;

we were not fit

even to eat the crumbs from under your table.

But you, Lord, are the God of our salvation,

and share your bread with sinners.

So cleanse and feed us

with the precious body and blood of your Son,

that he may live in us and we in him;

and that we, with the whole company of Christ,

may sit and eat in your kingdom.

Amen.

Hymn 661 They Cast their nets in Galillee

Father of all,

we give you thanks and praise,

that when we were still far off

you met us in your Son and brought us home.

Dying and living, he declared your love,

gave us grace, and opened the gate of glory.

May we who share Christ's body live his risen life;

we who drink his cup bring life to others;

we whom the Spirit lights give light to the world.

Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us,

so we and all your children shall be free,

and the whole earth live to praise your name;

through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The God of peace,

who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,

that great shepherd of the sheep,

through the blood of the eternal covenant,

make you perfect in every good work to do his will,

working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight;

and the blessing of the Father, the Son, and The Holy Ghost

be with you now and always.

Hymn 207 Jesus Christ is Risen Today

Go in the peace of Christ. Alleluia, alleluia.

Thanks be to God. Alleluia, alleluia.

---

[i] Concluding prayer by Janet Morley

All other materials drawn from Common Worship or the 1979 BCP

"Rite 3" Based on Herbert's Afflictions

I composed the following Eucharist Prayer based on Afflictions IV by George Herbert for a Eucharist on his feast day earlier this month...

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is right to praise you, God, who planted Paradise, where at first we lived in pleasure, and where you shared with us all delights. Yet we grew wanton, brought about your displeasure, and the ground of paradise was no longer firm. Still you remained our anchor, strengthening us in every age, when waves rose against us, and tempest raged around us. And so we join the saints and angels in proclaiming your glory, as we

sing,

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

So that we might not part, so that as we at first did live with you we might do so again. You tasted our misery. Came to know our joy and grief. Came to furnish a table.

A table you, Jesus, prepared on the night before you were handed over to suffering and death. You took bread and gave thanks. You broke the bread and shared it with your friends, saying: "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this

for the remembrance of me."

Then you took a cup of wine, gave thanks, and shared it, saying: "Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

We remember your death.

We celebrate your resurrection.

We wait your coming again.

Accept, O Lord, our sacrifice of praise, this memorial of our

redemption.

Send your Holy Spirit upon these gifts.

Let them be for us your Body and Blood.

Let them afflict and shake us so we fasten closer to you.

Let them destroy our wantonness and kindle our curiosity.

Holy Spirit so temper joy and grief that all things shine your glory.

We ask through Jesus, the Son, in unity with the Spirit,  in the glory, of the Father; Eternal Trinity. AMEN

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Hymn: The Sweetness of Christ Love

 This hymn came out of an assignment on the Anglican Mystical Poet Richard Rolle. It is an adaptation of stanzas 2, 6, 7, 9, 11, and 12 of his poem "The Sweetness of the Love of Jesus". It can be fit to any LM tune but I am particularly fond of singing it to "Conditor Alme Siderum" which is the tune for Hymn 26, "O Gracious Light, Lord Jesus Christ" in the 1982 Hymnal.

 

I pray oh Christ that life teach me,

after thy love to have longing.

And firmly set my heart on thee

So in thy love to have living.

Christ likeness in my soul is set.

And all this world for me is wrought.

The Father seeks my love to get

For to heaven he’ll have me brought.

As Mother do I know God well

Before my birth she knew me sure

And next with water washed my ‘til

The ill of sin was surely cured.

Brother and sister be God too

For Jesus said in teachings pure,

That if it is God’s will we do

Then we shall be Christ’s siblings sure

Christ’s love endures beyond all things,

all earthly loves that may be here,

gives an eternal wedding ring,

well ought I now to love God dear.

Christ’s life becomes the fullest kiss

To be my Lord Christ truly yearns.

Jesus is named the king of bliss

His love I yearneth so to learn.

Reflections on Sacred Space and Time from the Holy Land

Perspectives on Sacred Space and Sacred Time:
Reflections on a Trip to a Land called Holy

I. Introduction

Above a tomb of a patriarch of Israel an infant squirms as his foreskin is cut, prayers and ululations rise from the gathered family, a new life is celebrated. Through the streets of the old city young men bear palm branches before the cardboard cairn of their lost friend processing toward the Dome of the Rock, a life gone is remembered. Pilgrims wander the land connecting their lives to poignant places and events that resonant deep into their souls. A sacredness tends to ring, sometimes softly others sharply, in the air.

There are the patterns that make up our lives and the stories we tell each other to make sense of them. I propose that this integration is the process of making something sacred and that the times and spaces set aside for this integration are sacred times and sacred spaces. The Holy Land, Israel and Palestine, is permeated with this sacredness by the People of the Book. The paths of Jesus trodden by pilgrims, the long standing Jewish heritage, the Islamic calls to prayer all form an intense web of sacredness.

I look at the culture of America and it seems to stand in stark contrast. Here I am not speaking about secularization or any supposed "War on Religion" but our inherent seeking not to put aside time and space to integrate the patterns of our lives into stories and histories with each other. This is a problem flowing from the actions of institutionalized religion as much as any where else.

We arrived in Israel on the feast of the Epiphany. I remember a poignant conversation with a fellow pilgrim who expressed that the Holy Day seemed nothing more than another required day with no relevance. This comment got deeply under my skin. My thoughts were afire with rejoinders... "Is not the recognition that scientific inquiry towards truth can lead to God relevant?"... "Is not the recognition that the foreigner, the other, is equally able to enter into our worship relevant?"... "Is the wrestling and working with these symbols by countless numbers of Christians simply to be discarded and their lives treated as meaningless?"...

Those things are very relevant and the lives and wrestling of countless Christians is very meaningful, as my fellow pilgrim agreed. But these issues have become completely disassociated with the story of Epiphany. Thus bringing about the phenomena my fellow pilgrim so rightly noted: that Epiphany has devolved into a sad useless relic. It is similar to the sad phenomena that the name of Jesus is more associated with bigotry, punishment, and obligation than acceptance, love, and commitment. The Christian stories and symbols have been derailed from the very patterns of life they bring to fulfillment.

This conversation prompted many of the reflections I had during my time in the Holy Land. Three practical points from these reflections revolve around the cost of sacred land, a model of house church, and a community setting itself apart.

II. The Cost of Sacred Space

What price are we willing to pay for land that is considered sacred and what long term value does it hold? The chance to pray at the Western Wall was a striking moment for me, I prayed to leave false defenses behind and trust in the defense of God’s presence... I will reflect on that moment of prayer for the rest of my life. Yet I am acutely aware that my ability to pray there came about by the forced relocation of the Moroccan Quarter from that area. Similarly in the midst of almost any American urban environment I can walk into a depressed section of the city and find a church building on the brink of abandonment, if not abandoned. In the end I am left to wonder if abandoning a community in such a way is any better than forcing them to move.

Both are distinct cases of those in power choosing to partition themselves from those who do not have it. If the power in question is the ability to move others or to leave behind others who cannot move, the removal of connection is the same. The American model might indeed be more caustic because its passive nature makes it more readily rationalized away.

This phenomenon is one inherent to the entitlement that often comes hand in hand with having power. The hearts of both Judaism and Christianity cry out against such entitlement but its continued prevalence cannot be denied. In the end the cost is a tarnishing of our holy places.

The cost of sacred space is our entitlement. The seeking to make sacred space when and where it is comfortable, with no regard for those who do not have such privilege, is inherently flawed. Moving forward I can only hope to keep this reality poignantly in my mind. The inherent call of the incarnation is for those in power to place it aside and enter into the space of those without. It is in this reality, that of Jesus, I define what is sacred and my seeking sacred space must follow the same path.

III. A Model for House Church

In light of this I want to consider a model of House Church that came from the churches and mosques we experienced on our trip. This model is in distinct opposition to the idea of a house church being a community that worships in the houses of various members. I would say that this model, especially when practiced by American suburbanites, is inherently one of entitlement by the housed and mobile. It is a model that asks people to have church in their house. This is in stark contrast to the model that asks people to make a home in their church.

I often found myself smiling in the Mosques we visited, because they were filled with life. Businessmen discussing business in the corner, children running around in the open spaces playing and laughing, people gathered in circles for prayer, spiritual discussion, and study. These were spaces of prayer that were also spaces of daily life. It was a phenomenon that I have never encountered in American churches despite the vast potential for such that they have.  Our church spaces need to be open for such use and our congregations need to be empowered to use them as such.

Another key element was the monastic nature of many of the churches we visited. Groups of individuals had specifically decided to make this specific church their home. They were there because of a story, because of the heritage that has grown up around a specific event in the life of Jesus Christ. They had grounded themselves into that story, made that their home, and then opened that home, that story, for others to enter. The entire space was created and focused around presenting that story as a multisensory reality.  

This different understanding of church stands in contrast to what I tend to experience in American churches. Churches organize themselves more along the lines of clubs and organizations than homes and families. Libraries, parlors, basement youth rooms, and sanctuaries are not places where one goes for refuge or a break but for a meeting or an event. A church’s name is used as a statement of affiliation and a sign on the front door, but rarely impacts a parish more than an occasional piece of art work. In the midst of any name, even those parishes that do not have a Biblical one, is a story to be lived into that a parish can take up as part of its being. The sad reality is that too many churches have a mission to state but not a corresponding story to tell.

Parishes need to figure out how to make a home in their church. How can the parish building be opened to the community to use it truly as a refuge? Can a group of parishioners be enfranchised to truly make more of their home in the parish, students studying in the library, afternoon tea in the parlor, watching the football game in the youth room? But foremost can our communities be filled with members who are able to readily tell the story of their parish and how their story readily engages and is formed by the community and its mission? 

IV. A Community Set Apart

Similar questions began to well up inside of me in regards to personal life and personal practice. In the Holy Land the faith practices of many individuals are easily recognizable: Jewish men wearing tallits, Muslims flocking to spaces of prayer at the required times, sections of the Old City being closed dependent on whose day of observance it happens to be. The key to all of these things is that they were an act of religious observance that brought about an awareness of the individual’s religiosity.

It left me wondering if there were any equivalent parallels in Christianity. The reality is that there are, but in America they are in many ways an assumed part of our culture, so taking them up is not culturally significant. The calendar of major Holy Days for Western Christendom aligns with the calendar of National Holidays. The “War on Christmas” cultural phenomenon is a sign of how implicit most people take the National Holiday on December 25th to be a Christian celebration. The same can be said for the organization of our work week and the importance of having Sundays free. The end of Blue Laws, the idea of high school sports on Sunday, and similar trends are met with a large amount of resistance. Our society is engendered to allow Christians to go about their religious observances without having to make any notable exceptions to cultural norms. Fast Food Chains even make sure to provide Fish Sandwiches throughout lent.

This is a very different reality than what was presented in Israel. Here the National Holiday Calendar aligns with the Jewish Holy Day calendar and thus Christians and Muslims have to seek out, and make a point of, being observant to their faiths. Likewise shops, museums, and other venues are open dependent on the faith of the proprietor. One cannot be a tacit Christian in Israel the way one can in America.

Christians might have to choose to be observant in America but they do not have to struggle against societal norms to be so. This enmeshment is problematic because it can stop Christian Ritual from speaking out against the society that, at points, reinforces it. Further it means that Christian Ritual remains enmeshed in former cultural idioms instead of being able to apply itself to new idioms. Some groups are developing an idea that Christian Ritual is outdated and of no relevance to Christian living, this quickly becomes a self fulfilling prophesy as their use of Christian Ritual quickly becomes outdated and of no relevance to Christian Living.

Moving forward I am left with three maxims to consider. First, General cultural support of a Christian Observance does not lessen its significance. Second, Christian Observance can live in the midst of cultural acceptance but cannot be attached to it. And most importantly that Christian Observance needs to constantly seek an alignment with the culture around it and not seek the culture around it to align with it. I hope that keeping and working with these principles I can practice and cultivate a life of Christian Observance that remains relevant and topical to the world it seeks to transform.

V. Conclusion

I am not coming out of my time in the Holy Land, or of my reflections on that time, with completely nuanced arguments and positions. Where I find myself instead is having now a new perspective on many issues of how time and space enter into the arena of the sacred. This experience will nuance my appreciation and thinking of what sacred means for the rest of my life and give me a very specific tool set to use in forming communities. In the reflections above I did not set out to prove what I had to say but to present the situations I encountered and the thoughts that came out of them. My hope is only to share the stirring up that has occurred within me with the reader. The end point is to make sure to step back and see the whole system of how our use of sacred time and space forms and is formed by the society in which it dwells.

The Baptismal Booth in the Wilderness... (Sermon Epiphany 3 Year C)

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 Psalm 19 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a Luke 4:14-21

The exile was over. The Lord's favor had come to the people of Israel as the prophet
Isaiah had foretold. After decades of exile in Babylon they were able to return home.
It was time to celebrate with a great amount of feasting. Everyone was to be involved
and those who had much were obligated to provide for those who did not. This feasting
took place not in the newly built homes, not in the city center, not in the very places
they were celebrating returning to... But in tents built of branches outside the city in the
wilderness.

For the people of Israel were not celebrating their stations, all would feast equally...

The people of Israel were not celebrating ownership, all would feast in crudely made
huts not their secure houses...

The people of Israel were not even celebrating place, for in the Exile they had learned
that God was not bound to Jerusalem or the temple...

The people of Israel were celebrating God's favor, God's grace... A grace not bound to
any class, a grace not dependent on ownership of anything, a grace that can abound in
any place at any time...

Jewish tradition continues to celebrate the Lord's favor in this very same way every fall
in a week long festival called Sukkoth. Individuals build three sided booths outside their
houses and there they eat their meals and throw parties to celebrate the Lord's favor.

So to we gather together today to celebrate with a meal the Lord's favor. We will gather
around this altar as equals. We are not here to celebrate our station in society. We are
not here to celebrate our political ideology. We are not here to celebrate the building,
traditions, and fond memories of St. Peter's Delaware. We are here to celebrate the
grace poured forth in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But before we do that today we are all going to remember that once we too were exiles.
We are going to turn our backs to this altar and create a tent around that font. We are
going to enter the wilderness outside of this community and there find and be found by
one who is not yet a part of us.

When we return from that wilderness, when we again face this altar there will be in our
midst someone new born to Life in Christ... But that is not all... We as a community will
be reborn... An essential part of our community, of the body of Christ, that we have
been without will now be a part of us... The community will return transformed...

Look around you... I really mean it... look around you at the faces of the people you are
about to enter into the wilderness with... Some might be from the same social circle as
you... Some might not... Some might hold the same political ideologies as you... Some
might not... Some are people you really like being in church with... And some might
not...

But today we do not celebrate our social circle... Today we do not celebrate our political
ideology... Today we do not celebrate the church that we like... Today we celebrate the
Lord's favor...

The favor, the grace, that calls for one body with many different parts... Parts that must
look at each other and say "I have need of you"... Parts that say "when you suffer I
suffer"... Parts that say " when you are honored I rejoice"... We are called to be this
body in the midst of our differences, for we cannot all be the same part, the same social
circle, the same political ideology, the same type of ministry... We are called to be many
diverse parts in the midst of one body... And today in the rite of baptism we will name
ourselves that body again and be made more complete as we are joined by a new
member, a new part, a new bit of diversity.

We are many parts but one Body in Christ. The spirit of The Lord is upon us. We are
anointed to bring good news to the poor. We are sent to bring release to captives, bring
sight to the blind, bring freedom to the oppressed. May the Lord's favor be upon us so
that we might do so for each other and all we meet.

Amen.