Well, the time has arrived for me to leave Germany. Yes, it is sad. I have made good friends here in Germany. I have worked for two wonderful parishes. I have grown in countless ways. It will be sad to leave my new found home. It has become my home. It is hard to think of my life back in the States...of the person I used to be. Will I change back into that person? Will I continue to grow as I leave Germany?
There are many unanswered questions in my future, but I know two things will hold true. I love God and I wish to serve Him. Thank you to everyone who has made this year possible. Thank you to Father Allan and Mother Martha for their great mentorship. Thank you Cynthia, Manfred, Richard, Leslie, Lesly, Andreas, Jaki, Jorge, Cyra, Fiona, Gretchen and Mary Lynn who have made this year so enjoyable. Thank you to the wonderful youth and children that I had the blessing to work with this past year. I will bring the many gifts that you have given me back to the States and cherish them.
Today was the day of my first sermon! Yes, it was a big day for me! I have been nervous about this day since the first time 2 months ago when Father Allan at CtK asked me to preach. I have been very nervous about this day. Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Good? Okay. Well, first I did not faint. I did not stutter. I did not throw up. The congregation, especially the kids seemed to really enjoy the sermon. Lots of people told me they enjoyed the message and thanked me for preaching. Also, my sweet friends Mary Lynn and Jaki both brought me treats to celebrate my first sermon which I thought was so adorable and so thoughtful and loving of them. That is the good news. The bad news is that even though I did not stutter, my hands were literally shaking through the whole delivery and every time I noticed them shaking I would lose my thought. This happened a few times. Not good when you are standing in front of 150 people and they are all staring at you and they are listening to your every word.
Other than that I think it went very well. Father Allan's feedback was the next time he asked me to preach (yes there will be a next time) we should go into the Nave together and he will work with me on my delivery. I am very thankful for my mentors here. I am continually thanking God for both Father Allan and Mother Martha. They are great and supportive friends in Christ. May the Peace of God be with you all.
My sermon:
Jesus confuses me. There it is, I’ve said it. Yes, Jesus confuses me. It seems that he fails to offer any straight answers. He is always answering questions with new questions. When his disciples ask him a specific question he never answers them with a specific answer! Take today’s Gospel for instance Peter, James, John, and Andrew ask him privately (not even in front of people, but privately) when and how they will know when things will be destroyed. They say, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” Right. They want to know what the sign will be and when it will happen.
These are good specific questions! But, Jesus answers them “Beware that no one leads you astray.” Okay, that is a good start. He continues to say “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.” Okay, check-wars or rumors of wars not the sign. He also says “There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.” What? Birthpangs? We have been having wars, earthquakes, and famines for generations! So, has the end already come? Did I miss something? Didn’t the disciples ask two specific questions? Did Jesus answer them? No, he said don’t be led astray and don’t be alarmed. Jesus come on if A happens, I want to know that I react with B. You aren’t giving me that! And I want to know why! Jesus you can be really confusing sometimes! When I was younger, I would go to my parents ever so often to get them to answer one of life’s tough questions. Instead of them immediately answering like I wanted them to, they would sit me down and ask me questions. They would never give me a straight answer.
This not only confused me sometimes, but it really aggravated me until one day I actually figured out what they were doing. You see, they weren’t answering the questions for me because they were actually giving me the means to think clearly for myself. They thankfully saw the value in teaching me how to make decisions and how to think things through clearly and rationally. My parents knew that they would always love me and want the best for me, but that they would not always be there to hold my hand through out all of life’s tough decisions. As hard as it was for them, they were going to have to teach me how to stand on my own two feet. I wonder if Jesus ever felt that way towards his disciples. Even though the disciples did not know Jesus’ time with them would be cut so short, Jesus did know. I wonder if the reason He did not give them all of the answers was so that they would learn how to stand on their own feet and be able to carry on after His death and resurrection. After all, they were going to have to carry on His church without Him holding their hand every step of the way. Now it is our turn to carry on the church for Jesus.
Today, the parents of the youth confirming will be presenting their children to us for confirmation. This is the beginning of the birth pangs for those parents. Their children who they have given birth to, rocked while they have been crying, who they fed, sheltered, and clothed are ready to stand up and declare their own faith in Jesus. God loves us so much that He offered His son to us. These parents loved God so much they offered their child up to be baptized. Now it is time for these youth to choose that life for themselves. How liberating that must be for the youth and how scary that must be for the parents to give up control over their child’s faith. Regardless, these parents must feel very proud of the children they have raised.
The book of Hebrews offers us some powerful imagery today through the selected reading. Language such as “let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean and our bodies washed with pure water” can only remind us of the commitment we make to God when we are baptized or when we choose to renew those baptismal vows. These youth will be preparing themselves all year long to renew their baptismal vows. However, they will still need to continually examine their own spirits to make sure that they are approaching God with a true heart. They will need to withstand any pressure to renew vows that they themselves do not feel.
God calls all of us into a relationship with Him. He is so overjoyed when we choose Him, but this is not a commitment to be taken lightly. And this is a commitment that only the individual may seek and seal for themselves. The reading from Hebrews continues to encourage us to “consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together,…, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
I have seen the parishioners of Christ the King encouraging one another. I have witnessed the love between you here. I have come to know that when I enter the doors of Christ the King I will be welcomed. However, our job is never done. We always can find ways to provoke one another to love and good deeds whether or not it is through kind words spoken to a visitor or inviting someone new to join your committee. We always can encourage one another. However, I wonder who you have encouraged in this parish family recently? Or who you have provoked to do good deeds? Have you made the effort to speak or share with someone who is not in your immediate group of friends? Who is not sitting next to you in the choir? Or who you may have seen several times before, but never spoken to?
When a baby is baptized we are all witnesses to this sacrament, but not only that, we renew our own baptismal covenant each and every time someone is baptized in the Church. We answer again and again questions like “Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ? Will you proclaim by word and example the Good news of God in Christ? Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? Of course, we all say I will, with God’s help because that is what the Book of Common Prayers tells us to say. However, my challenge to you today and for years to come is not just to say the words because it is on a page, but to say them with conviction. Say them because you truly mean it. My prayer is that we all will approach this commitment with a true heart in full assurance of faith that we will provoke one another to love and good deeds and that we will continually encourage one another until the last day. Amen.
