Sermon on Advent 4: Mary's Song

Well, we are drawing to the end of one of my favorite liturgical seasons, Advent.  And this year, we have traveled through almost the fewest number of days that Advent can be, the fourth week of Advent is only two days long, tomorrow is Christmas Eve, the last day of the season.  This is a season of anticipation for me, of preparation, of waiting and watching as the days grow shorter and the nights grow somehow darker. Liturgically we use the color blue to signify hope, to me it seems brighter, more anticipatory than the old liturgical color for the season, purple. I know, I know, how does a color express something like hope? But it does to me.  

If this is the season of Hope, Where do we see hope in our lives? I n this congregation?  Where do we see hope amidst the fear that is rampant in this day and age? After tragedies like Newtown last week? In today’s gospel? We hear this reading every year on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, and during Advent.  What does it have to say to us today?  How does this reading, which is closely associated with Christmas, read differently in Advent?  Does it? I hear three Advent messages: “Hail, O favored one,”  “How can this be”, and “Nothing is impossible for God.” In this short passage Mary traverses the journey that we all make as we step out in faith to live out God’s love in the world.

First, Gabriel’s greeting: “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you” What does it mean to be favored by God? Is this a good message?  Does it necessarily bring fear? The text simply says that Mary was perplexed by these words and pondered them.  What would it mean to you to be favored by God, to simply be favored.  In this busy time of preparation, what does it mean to be singled out?  When all of our thoughts and activities are centered on others, on buying presents, baking favorite cookies or candies, getting to holiday concerts, decorating our homes, what does it mean to be favored by God?  Do you ever think about that? Seriously?  I have to admit that it stopped me cold when I read this suggestion in one of the weekly text resources that I consult when preparing to preach.  Have I ever thought of myself as favored by God?  Our Scandinavian heritage tells us to deflect praise and compliments, so how could we ever stop and think that God favors us, individually?  This text tells us of a simple girl, a poor girl, who is visited by an angel and given that message.  There is nothing extravagant said about Mary, she is simply a young girl.  God comes to each of us, not in the shape of angels as the artists of the ages have pictured this event, but through messengers, the translation of the word angel, just the same. 

Today is Lille Juleaften, or little Christmas Eve.  I did not grow up with this idea, even though my heritage is Danish as well as Swedish.  But when I first learned of this idea, of noting that today, the 23^rd of December, is the Eve of Christmas Eve, I found it enticing.  In our home we have observed this day as a pause, as a time to take note of what is coming, a bump in the road over which we race towards Christmas,  a day to take note and leave the hurriedness behind.

On this next to last day of Advent, can we take the time to sit for a moment, and to reflect upon the things for which we give thanks?  Can we begin to contemplate the ways that God has favored us?  Can we believe that God truly has tasks for us to do, and promises to be with us through the accomplishment of those tasks?  Even if they seem to be impossible to us? Hail, O favored One! Listen to what God is doing with you.

Gabriel simply tells Mary what is going to happen. He does not ask her if she would like to do this, or if this seems like a good plan, Gabriel simply tells Mary what is going to happen to her.  And Mary’s response is “How can this be?”  This is impossible.  A natural response.  How many times do we read in scripture of the response of God’s people to announcements of God’s plans:  Sarah laughs, Moses says “Not me, Lord,” Zachariah is so full of unbelief that God doesn’t let him speak for nine months.  How do we respond when things just seem to be impossible? What is our first reaction when a request made of us is just too much, when we can’t see a way to accomplish it?  How do we do anything in the face of a world in pain? When prices keep rising, when health care doesn’t work, when people are homeless, when the disparity between the rich and the poor just seems to grow bigger and bigger? God tells Mary that God will be coming to earth, literally.  If we can accept that basic premise, then how can we say anything is impossible?  Faith draws us to belief, and the basic tenet of our belief is that God became incarnate and dwelled among us.  This is what we are celebrating Tuesday, the incarnation of God.  After that, what is impossible for God? Nothing, and that is hope!

Mary asked “how can this be?” and Gabriel responded, the Holy Spirit will be with you, and then told her that Elizabeth was expecting.  Gabriel said, in effect, God will be with you, and if you need assurance of this, here is proof….she who had given up hope of ever having a child is already six months pregnant!” We move from the stage of “this is impossible” to all things are possible for God, when we hear the stories of God’s work among us.

Last year Bishop Boerger shared his answer to the question:  “Where do you see hope”?  The answer was “I see hope where it has always been, between faith and love.”  This is what is happening in this text. After experiencing doubts and questioning the probability of the angel’s statement being true, Mary is given hope, she is told of another miracle of expected birth. Gabriel reminds her that nothing is impossible with God, and Mary remembers.  She remembers Hannah and the birth of Samuel, she remembers Sarah and Abraham, she remembers that God took a man who didn’t speak eloquently and turned Moses into a leader, Mary remembers the stories of her faith and of her community and Mary feels hope.  This hope, this response to faith, enables her to respond to God’s announcement to her with the prophet’s words: Here I am, the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word.”

In this season of preparation for Christmas when it often seems that it is all we can do to get everything done, when our thoughts and activities seem to be more than we can possibly complete in the hours and days left, where do we see hope? Where do we see hope amidst the fear that is rampant in this day and age? Where do we see hope after reading of malnourished children in Chad whose parents take them to the local medicine man who pulls their teeth, rather than to the international aid clinics where doctors and nurses wait to help them?  Where do we find hope amidst the overwhelming stories of funerals in Newtown?

We find hope in the stories shared around the tables after church in the Augustana Room.  We find hope in the stories of our faith, in the things that we have done, in the promises of God.  We find hope as we gather together around this table and eat this bread and drink this wine.  When we do this, when we participate in this meal, we are in effect becoming like Mary.  Mary held the incarnate God within her body, and she sang a song of radical transformation, of God’s work in the world.  We eat this bread and drink this wine and we too hold God within our bodies.  Can we embrace this?  Can we be as Mary was and sing of the radical things that God has done?  Can we sing about and believe that God has already turned the world upside down?  Can we live with the reality that the promise of God’s presence with us has already been fulfilled and then step out into the world, filled with hope to live that presence into being?  Can we love the world, can we love those who seem unlovable, can we advocate for those who are left out? 

From faith to hope and out in love, that is the transforming journey to which we are called every day. God loves each one of us, we are all favored by God, and we are all called to do seemingly impossible tasks.  In the face of that, we are reminded of Emmanuel, that God is with us; we are reminded that we are filled with the Holy Spirit; just as Mary was. We are fed at this table, and then we are sent out, filled with the body and blood of Christ, transformed by this meal into Christ’s body, to be God’s love in this world. 

In this time of waiting, in this pause before the glory of Christmas, we remember that God is a God of action, that God is revealed not only in the still small voice, in the sleeping baby in a manger, but also in the tempest and the whirlwind, in the earthquake and in the thunder. God meets us quietly at this table, at that manger, and then sends us out, enlivened to do God’s work in this world, to shake it up, to scatter the proud and lift up the lowly, to stir in us love’s restlessness.

With God, nothing is impossible, let it be to us according to God’s word.  Amen.

 

Diaconal Travels

Sunday, June 24^th, 2012 - 12:10 pm

Gate S-8  Seattle – Tacoma International Airport

I am SO excited! I am waiting to board Delta Flight 232 to Amsterdam en route to Copenhagen! There I will meet up with 13 other members of the DIAKONIA World Federation Executive Committee for 6 days of meetings. I never thought I would get this chance as I am the alternate to our second delegate from my region.  However, Ingrit couldn’t make this meeting so voila! I am going!  Seven of us will meet up and stay tonight (well actually Monday night, for it will be Monday morning when I arrive in Denmark) in Copenhagen, then meet the remaining seven members of our group at the home of the Danish Deaconesses for lunch on Tuesday.  We will board the train after lunch and travel to Gilleleje where we will be guest of the deaconesses at their retreat center.

Six days of meeting, hearing stories of Diaconal work around the world, talking about common areas of interest in social justice, and planning for the next World Gathering to be held in Berlin in July of 2013.  I am hoping to be able to post some pictures and some reflections here each day to let you share some of these experiences.  For those of you who are members of diaconal communities, I am also hoping to entice some of you to begin thinking and planning on attending that World Gathering.  If you have never been to one, I promise it will transform your experience of this particular call to the Diaconate that we all share.

Next post: Copenhagen!

Lectio Divina on "Waiting, In-Between"

Dr. Mark L. Taylor, Director of Worship at the School of Theology and Ministry, offered this meditative reflection to our graduating students yesterday at our Liturgy of Celebration.  I found it very provocative, especially as I heard it not only in the context of the graduating students, but in my own congregational context of being in transition between pastors.  Aren't we all in places of "in-between" in our lives?  Enjoy the reflection.

Pondering what it means to Wait

Here we are amid one of the stranger weeks in the Western Christian year--between the Ascension of Jesus and Pentecost: after the risen Christ has departed and before the Holy Spirit has come newly clothed in wind and fire.  Time out of time, almost. But perhaps this week of waiting discloses something deeply true about the other fifty-one weeks in our year. I invite you to meditate a little on this in between time.

From the Acts of the Apostles:

After his passion, Jesus presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the reign of God. On one occasion, he told them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of God. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

Do you find yourself in between and waiting this afternoon? How do you find yourself waiting and in between? I mean really, in the real stuff of your life? I think especially of you graduating students. For weeks now, we’ve been treating you as if you have already completed your education and formation. We celebrated you at a luncheon and now we bless you at this worship service. But you have not yet made all of those final presentations; not yet written and turned in those final papers; not yet seen those final grades. In between. Waiting.

From the Gospel of John:

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith in me as well. In God’s house there are many dwelling places; otherwise, how could I have told you that I was going to prepare a place for you? I am indeed going to prepare a place for you, and then I will come back to take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.

And I will ask Abba God to give you another Paraclete, another Helper, to be with you always—the Spirit of truth. You know the Spirit, because she abides with you, and she will be within you.

I will not leave you orphaned.

This much I have said to you while still with you; but the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom Abba God will send in my name, will instruct you in everything and she will remind you al all that I told you Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubles, and do not let them be afraid.

As you wait, in between, can you, dare you, acknowledge the loss, the change—the end of a particular kind of presence and intimacy and community?  And dare you, can you, hear the thin, barely audible promise in the air that a new mode of being and acting and relating lies on the horizon?

From the Letters of Paul, Peter and John:

“Not that I have already obtained this or already reached the goal; but I am running the race in order to grab hold of the prize, since Christ Jesus has grabbed hold of me.”

“What sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God. In accordance with God’s promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by God at peace.”

“My dear friends, now we are God children; it has not yet been revealed what we are to become. We know that when it comes to light, we will be like God, for we will see God as God really is.”

How do we live in between? How do we wait? What do we do after the old way has passed and before a new way has arrived? Well, we do, we work, we run, we get sweaty – physically and spiritually. And yet deeper, we are invited to let go, to receive. Like cold water on a feverish face, we are reminded that we do not have mission, a mission has us. The Holy One does not belong to any church or helping agency; rather our churches, our agencies belong to the Holy One. We don’t’ grab hold of Jesus, Jesus grabs hold of us. Waiting. In between. Already. Not Yet. Do and leave off doing. Give and receive. Exert yourself and relax.

~ A reflection given by Dr. Mark L. Taylor, at the Liturgy Celebrating the Graduating Students of the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University. May 22, 2012. The Chapel of St. Ignatius.

Reports on the Week of Prayer

I apologize for not posting in the last few days.  Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has been happening, and Seattle was paralyzed by a snow and ice storm.  Days at home were spent frantically preparing off-site for liturgies to happen the next day, only to have the campus closed; to top it  our countywide observance in happening tonight. Exciting busy times.  I hope some of you have been able to read the reflections posted on our STM Week of Prayer site: http://weekofprayer.us/ . While stuck at home I found those a wonderful way to engage in prayer with my STM community and with the world at large.

          However, on Sunday, I was privileged and honored to be invited to provide the sermon at both of the Masses said at the Chapel of St. Ignatius at Seattle University.  They had a baptism that morning, a little girl named Molly Lynn Shafer and I looked for a way to tie the text for the day, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and Baptism all together. I preached twice, in the Morning for a congregation composed of members from the community surrounding Seattle University, and faculty,staff and students from the University, when the baptism took place and in the evening to a congregation composed mainly of Seattle University students.  Some revision was needed, this text was used at the 9:00 pm Mass.

          I give credit to this site: http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/january-22-2012-third-sunday.html for the insight that finally drew them all together. Here is the sermon:

+ + + + + + + + +   

   

 (sing) I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men.  I will make you fishers of men if you follow me.  If you follow me, if you follow me, I will make you fishes of men, if you follow me.

Do you know that song? I heard some of you singing. Whenever I read this text, I hear that song running through my head.  It had hand motions, you know. (demonstrate).  I remember one time a pastor of mine came up the aisle wearing his fishing vest, his thigh-high waders, his fishing hat covered with fishing flies and carrying his fishing creel and his fishing pole.  (Look at Father Ohno) that’s an image that will never leave your brain!

The passage is simple, straightforward, just a few sentences.  Mark, the writer of this particular gospel doesn’t give us any extraneous details, we don’t know if there were other fishermen around, we don’t know the time of day, we only know Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee. With these five short verses Mark paints a picture. 

How do you imagine this? I have always pictured Simon and Andrew standing at the edge of the Sea of Galilee, which was really more a large lake, maybe like Lake Washington, minding their own business, throwing their nets out into the sea; Jesus walking by.   He calls out to them, they turn their heads, and they drop their nets, leave everything and follow Jesus.  The same thing for James and John, but they are sitting in their boat with their father Zebedee, and they leave their nets, their boat, their father and the people who work for them.  That’s the way I have imagined this scene my entire life. What about you? It’s a great image, translates well into children’s Bible story books and paintings.

The sermons I have heard based on this text, including the one given by the pastor outfitted in his freshwater fishing gear, have spoken about the metaphor of  fishing, of the gear that is needed, the necessity of being prepared, the call to evangelize as it were. Or they have focused on the disciples’ response to Jesus’ call; they dropped everything and followed Jesus, just walked away from their lives. It’s a romantic image isn’t it?

          I don’t know about you, but when I really think about this, it becomes one of those “it’s sounds good, but it’s not for me” type of images.  How did they do that?  I couldn’t.  I want to, at least I think I want to, at least I'm pretty sure that's what this stole indicates I should do, but I don’t know how I could possibly do that. Jewish society at the time of Jesus didn’t have social safety nets; these fishermen were not wealthy, not even James and John who had boats and hired men would have been considered wealthy in those days.  How did they just pick up and leave everything?  Why is this being held up by the writer of Mark as an example of following Jesus?  If it’s just a history story, just a retelling of the what and why of Jesus’ life, then so-be-it;  this is what happened, it happened two thousand years ago; it’s done.

So, why do we read it today?  Why was it included in Mark’s gospel account? Why did the early church think this was important enough to include it in our Scriptures? What does it have to say to us, living in Seattle, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, in 2012?  I’ve already admitted that I cannot see myself doing this, I have responsibilities, I have a family, I have a job, I have ministry to do, people to see, places to go!

As I have been meditating on and thinking about this passage over the past few weeks, I found myself wondering if perhaps I was focusing on the wrong portion of the reading.  When we focus on the disciples’ response to Jesus’ call, and wonder about how we would respond, are we losing sight of the other thing that takes place here? Is Mark’s point that the disciples left everything to follow Jesus, and that we should do the same; or is it that God, through Jesus, did amazing work here and created faith where there was none? Is this more of a "miracle story;"  is it really about "the power of God - to walk right up to a quartet of fishermen and work a miracle, creating faith where there was no faith, creating disciples where there were none just a moment before?"( Barbara Taylor Brown, “Miracle on the Beach”)

As human beings, living in the 21^st century, we really don’t want to hear that.  To believe that would mean that we have to give up our control, that we are not in charge of our lives, that we are not responsible for our salvation. It’s more comfortable for us that way; we don’t need to depend on anyone else, we don't want to depend on anyone else.

One of the commentaries I looked at this week suggests that “what we may have lost along the way is a full sense of the power of God – to recruit people who have made terrible choices; to invade the most hapless lives and fill them with light; to sneak up on people who are thinking about lunch, not God, and smack them upside the head with glory." (Barbara Taylor Brown, Home by Another Way). Whether we're ready or not, God acts. Jesus doesn't ask the fishermen "to add one more task to their busy lives. He calls them into new ways of being." So he doesn't give them a new list of things to do but "a new identity….a whole new life" (Feasting on the Word).

That resonates deep within me, that rings true. If we have lost our sense of this power of God, how can we possibly expect others who are not in the Church to understand why we think it is important for us to be here week after week?  If we have lost this sense of the power of God, how do we share that with others?  If we have lost this sense of the power of God why woudl we want to fish for anyone? How do we explain why it is important to participate in this community of believers? 

And that brings us to today, to the Chapel of St. Ignatius, to the Week of Prayer and to Molly Jean Shafer and her family.  This morning we saw this story re-enacted, when we witnessed Molly’s birth into the mystical body of Christ through her baptism.  What a joy it was!  To watch her being baptized. She looked so beautiful, an infant, not tine, but not yet walking, wearing her family’s baptismal gown, surrounded by family and friends!  It is a wonderful life passage, attested to by pictures and now a part of their family story. I wondered, as the assembly watched,  if they saw it? If they felt it?  The power of God at work?  When Father Ohno poured that water on Molly’s head, when he anointed her head with oil, did they see it? Did they see God at work in that action? 

That’s what this was all about, you know.  It’s more than a photo op. God, through the actions of Father Ohno and that gathered assembly, gave Molly a new identity, she was made a part of the one body of Christ, she participated in the death of Jesus, through that water, and is now promised a life with Jesus, as part of his body.  This act, this sacrament needs to be approached with fear and trembling, for Molly has been changed, as have we all. You were changed this morning, even if you were sleeping when this action took place, by virtue of being part of this one mystical body. My congregation at Green Lake was changed also.

As a Lutheran Diaconal Minister, I am honored to have been here to witness this miracle.  I welcome a sister into the Body of Christ with me; and Molly has been joined with all of you also.  This sacrament joins us all together.  Molly wasn’t baptized into the Roman Catholic Church, but into the body of Christ.  She will live out that life within the community of the Roman Catholic communion, as I have lived my baptismal vocation out within the Lutheran one.  But make no mistake, we are one.  This baptism joins us together with all other baptized Christians throughout the world.  It says so on your baptismal font: “No Barrier can divide where life unites: one faith, one fount, one spirit, makes one people."  (St. John Lateran Basilica, 5th century)

And that’s what we celebrate this week around the world when we observe the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  This isn’t a time when we pray for God to make us one; this is a chance for us to pray that we can see that God has already made us one, and to commit again to the work of living more fully into that reality. That reality is lived out in full diversity when we are able to recognize the gifts that are present in each expression of Christianity and to bring our gifts to the conversations.

That is what we did here this morning, when you invited a Lutheran Diaconal Minister to come and participate in this liturgy. This morning the mystical Body of Christ received a new part.  We don’t know how Molly will live out this miracle; we do know that God will be with her, in her family, and her congregation, and in us, to walk alongside her and to grow with her into what God has already created in her.

This is the miracle that we celebrate today and that was enacted on the shores of the Sea of Galilee over two thousand years ago.  This is what we celebrate this Sunday of the Week of Prayer, “No Barrier can divide where life unites: one faith, one fount, one spirit, makes one people." Thanks be to God.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Begins!

Seattle University is closed today, due to extreme winter conditions.  So on this first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, when we had prepared to meet around the font in the Chapel of St. Ignatius and celebrate our baptism into the one, mystical body of Christ, the basis upon which we can claim our Unity, we were all scattered around the greater Seattle area, hopefully safe and warm in our homes.

However, we have been busy.  The School of Theology and Ministry has set up a webpage for information about our observance with links the World Council of Churches Week of Prayer resources.  Today we posted reflections based on the themes for the eight days of this observance, written by faculty, staff and students at the School of Theology and Ministry.  Please take a moment and visit this site, print off the reflections or bookmark the site and visit each day to join us in our observance.  If you have comments, you can make them here or send them to cherryj2@seattleu.edu.  We look forward to interacting with you during and after this week.

http://weekofprayer.us/

Each day during this week we will post the theme, prayer and questions prepared by the group in Poland along with a reflection of the day’s theme from members of the School of Theology and Ministry community, faculty, staff and students.  Stop by each day to read and reflect together with us.

Eight Days reflecting on our change in Christ

Over the coming week we are invited to enter more deeply into our faith that we will all be changed through the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ. The biblical readings, commentaries, prayers and questions for reflection, all explore different aspects of what this means for the lives of Christians and their unity with one another, in and for today’s world. We begin by contemplating the Christ who serves, and our journey takes us to the final celebration of Christ’s reign, by way of His cross and resurrection:

Morning Prayer Homily - Tuesday, January 17, 2012

On Tuesdays at Morning Prayer at Seattle University, we use a form of Prayer that includes singing hymns, often settings of Psalms, and having the leader give a short homily or reflection on the day's texts.  This is the homily I gave today, the day before the Week of Prayer begins.  The text: John 3: 16-21.  Note: We use The Inclusive Bible,  ISBN 9781580512138  for our readings.

            God so loved the world. God so loved the world.  This is one of those verses that is engraved into my soul, into my heart.  It must have been one of the first verses that I memorized.  One of my favorite anthems from years of singing in choirs allowed me to memorize the verse and I always sing it in my head when I read the words.

            This is one of those verses that is hard to hear in the inclusive version.  They did a good job with it, but it rolls off of my tongue in the King James version: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  I have heard it said that Martin Luther claimed this one verse summed up the whole of the Gospel, the Good News.  It has formed the bedrock of my faith, for most of my life, I believe.

            Imagine my shock a few years ago, when I sat in a Communion service led by one of our partner communions, and heard a good friend and fellow student state with confidence “I’m sure that you all hear the condemnation in this verse.” That statement grabbed my attention.  Condemnation?  How could this verse be read as condemnation?  It says “God so LOVED the world, not God so condemned the world.  How could the sending of Jesus be viewed as condemnation?

            Ah, the dangers of reading scripture verses out of context.  I don’t think I’d ever considered the following verses closely, I only memorized John 3:16, not John 3:16 and following. “Whoever believes in the Only Begotten avoids judgment, but whoever doesn’t believe is judged already for not believing in the name of the Only Begotten of God,” or “on these grounds is sentence pronounced,”  these are certainly harsh sounding words, they speak of judgment, something we do not like to hear. So my friend talked about this verse as an excluding passage, as one that defined who was out, while I have always heard it as inclusive, claiming who is in.

Today is the last day before the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins.  It is the day before the observance of the Confession of Peter, how does this reading fit into that context for us, here at STM?  Hear the final verses of this reading: “but people who live by the truth come out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that what they do is done in God.” People who live by the truth come out into the light. Isn’t that what Peter does when he confesses Jesus as Messiah?  Isn’t he claiming that he recognizes Jesus as the one sent by God, as the promised Savior. When Peter claims that truth for Jesus, he isn’t thinking about the consequences for him, he isn’t thinking about who is in and who is out, he is claiming the promise of God made to the Hebrews generations before him; he is naming aloud, bringing into the light, the truth that lives within him. 

Here at STM we are gifted with the incredible opportunity to learn deeply the gifts of our various ecclesial communities.  We sit in classes with people from other faith traditions and we are gifted with this chance to truly see the faithfulness and depth of commitment that resides within each person and each denomination.  While the world tries to tell us that we need to take care of ourselves first, that it is important to keep “the other” out of our workplaces, our schools, our country, STM gives us a chance to deny that claim.

The election cycle has already begun in this country.  We are already hearing the rhetoric that aims to divide us, to ask us to define ourselves in terms of political persuasion, liberal, conservative, progressive, tea party, republican, democrat, libertarian.  The labels are already coming out, the accusations are already flying. It looks to be an ugly, divisive period of time.  People are scared, they are out of work, they have no health care, they fear for their way of life if not their very existence. The idea of being one with “those people” seems like a fairy tale, like some great joke.

Tomorrow we begin our observance of the Week of Prayer.  In doing so we are claiming the truth within us, bringing it out into the light so that we can see it and act upon it.  This truth that we claim with this annual observance is that we ARE one body, that our baptism and our faith claims we are one, that God has already created this oneness and gifted us with it.  We take time each year, an entire octave of days, to think about that unity, to help us to live more fully into what we are already created to be.  We are living into the reality of John 3:16. God so loved the world as to give the only Begotten One, love incarnate to this world.  When we claim this truth, when we seek to live out this already created unity, this is the gift we bring to the world, that God so loved.  Luther had it right, this is the gospel encapsulated.  May we live in the truth and in the light so that the world may see it and know what God has done.  Thanks be to God.

Week of Prayer 2011 - Seattle

In 2011 Seattle First Baptist Church hosted our celebration.  The processional participants were asked to bring a loaf of bread to the table, along with a tall, lighted taper.  As each executive shared their prayer of repentance, a light was extinguished until only the Christ Candle remained lit.  As the Litany of Unity was prayed the candles were re-lit.  At the end of the liturgy, the loaves of bread were taken directly to a local food bank to be served with the lunch they would hold the next day, to illustrate the unity we find in serving with one another.  Pictures from that liturgy may be found here:  2011 Seattle Week of Prayer Liturgy

How we have contextualized these resources.

In our local Countywide observance we have developed a pattern of asking representatives from ecclesial communions and ecumenical agencies to contribute a sentence or two as part of the liturgy, to share their hope or prayer for Christian Unity. Each year the question posed is a bit different, asking us to look at this ideal of Christian Unity from a slightly different angle each time.  This has been a very meaningful experience in the past and will be done this year also.

In 2009 we celebrated Christian Unity at St. James Cathedral. The Denominational executives were asked bring a flagon of water from their own baptismal fonts.  During the liturgy they each offered a two sentence confession of something that their communion had done that inhibited the expression of Christian Unity.  After that time of confession and absolution, they processed to the large Baptismal font/pool at St. James and in one motion emptied their waters into the single font.  The sound as the water hit the pool from on high was loud and strong!  We are indeed one in our Baptism! See pictures of this liturgy here: 2009 Week of Prayer - Seattle

This Year’s Theme: “We will all be changed by the Victory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:51-58)

Following extensive discussions in which the representatives of various ecumenical circles in Poland took part, it was decided to focus on a theme that is concerned with the transformative power of faith in Christ, particularly in relation to our praying for the visible unity of the Church, the Body of Christ. This was based on St. Paul’s words to the Corinthian Church which speaks of the temporary nature of our present lives (with all its apparent “victory” and “defeat”) in comparison to what we receive through the victory of Christ through the Paschal mystery.

Why such a theme?

The history of Poland has been marked by a series of defeats and victories. We can mention the many times that Poland was invaded, the partitions, oppression by foreign powers and hostile systems. The constant striving to overcome all enslavement and the desire for freedom are a feature of Polish history which have led to significant changes in the life of the nation. And yet where there is victory there are also losers who do not share the joy and triumph of the winners.

This particular history of the Polish nation has led the ecumenical group who have written this year’s material to reflect more deeply on what it means to “win” and to “lose”, especially given the way in which the language of “victory” is so often understood in triumphalist terms. Yet Christ shows us a very different way!

Who prepares the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity?

Each year the churches in a particular country are asked by the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches and The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity to reflect upon the theme of Christian Unity and to prepare resources for use by Christians around the world to use in their observance of these eight days.  This year the Churches of Poland were selected and representatives from the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Old Catholic and Protestant Churches of Poland prepared our resources. Each local group is invited to contextualize these resources for their own specific use.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is a concept of the World Council of Churches: The World Council of Churches Home Page - English which is always observed from January 18th, the Commemoration of the Confession of St. Peter, through January 25, the observance of the Conversion of St. Paul.

This is one of the most important weeks in my work as a ecumenical liturgical coordinator at the School of Theology and Ministry:  The School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University. I have been doing some reflection about the fact that people don't seem to know much about this week, nor do they do much to observe it.  At STM we do.  In the next couple of weeks, I am going to post some of my reflections on the week and a portion of the information that the World Council of Churches provides as resource for us each year. If you go to the WCC site and check out Week of Prayer, you can download a 42 page PDF booklet with all of the resources. I will hope to entice you to do that, but if you read my postings, you will become acquainted with the concept.

This year at STM we have asked a collection of eight students,staff and faculty to write short reflections for each of the eight days.  I will either post them here, or post a link to them if we get our website up and running in time.  I will also extract the information from the WCC booklet and post the individual day reflections here each day. 

My prayer is that these reflections and links will introduce you to the wealth of resources that are out there for Week of Prayer and entice you into deeper reflection of what it means to be part of the one mystical body of Christ while living your Christian experience daily in a particular expression of that Body.

A quick introduction

I am a consecrated Diaconal Minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, what some other denominations would call a Deacon.  My vocational call is to service in the world, and to helping the people of the Church see that our fundamental call as Christians is to service.

I serve at the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University in Seattle, Washington as the Ecumenical Liturgical Coordinator.  Simply put, or as simply as I can explain this, I am responsible for preparing and staffing all of the liturgies and prayers that are held by the School of Theology and Ministry for and by our students. Let me say that all of our liturgies are open to anyone on campus or in the community, they are just prepared and led by people from our graduate school.  We hold Morning Prayer five days a week when school is in session Fall through Spring Quarters, and add in Evening Prayer and Communion liturgies, prepared in the style of our partner ecclesial communions, in the afternoon one day a week throughout the year.  This year we have added hymn singing to that afternoon offering so that can explore together the richness of our song and discover our commonalities also.

A major event each year is our observance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  In addition to Morning Prayers being offered in the styles of our ecclesial partners, we co-sponsor a countywide observance of the Week of Prayer held at a local congregation in Seattle.  Our co-sponsors are the Church Council of Greater Seattle, the Archdiocese of Seattle and this year, First African Methodist Episcopal Church, the hosting congregation.  http://weekofprayer.us/

As the week of Prayer, January 8-25, gets closer I am hoping to post links to our materials on this site, or to actually post some of them here. When that observance is over, I will post other thoughts and musings here as well.

This is an adventure, let's see where it goes!