January 27, 2013
Annual Parish Meeting Sunday
The Rev. Brian C. Taylor

Today we hold our Parish Meeting, as we do every year. But this year is different. The Vestry you elect today will have the primary responsibility for carrying this parish through significant transitions in the next few years. And our finances and ministries that are reported on today are necessarily in a draft form - you’ll need to be flexible about them as new circumstances might call for different responses. 

So some things are going to be different. And as you look ahead to changes and uncertainty, you might be asking yourself “What can I count on? Will what I value so much about this faith community remain?” Perhaps you fear what a priest friend of mine likes to say cynically, in order to bring his colleagues back down to earth when they’re riding high in a congregation that’s currently a howling success: “Remember; every parish is potentially one Rector away from oblivion.” 

That’s not true here. And the reason I say that is that there is a secure and healthy foundation that endures beyond any one Rector. On this Annual Meeting Sunday, let me reflect back to you a few elements of this foundation. 

It may surprise you to know that when I arrived in 1983, this parish had much the same personality that it does today. It was diverse, open-minded, creative, informal, and vibrant. I didn’t create it. That’s why I was interested in coming here, and that’s why they called me. We were sympatico. The character of a parish can be remarkably enduring, and in our case, St. Michael’s personality will outlive both me and all of you. 

The style of worship in this parish has endured as well. My predecessor, Peter Moore, was one of the leading liturgists of his day. He brought this congregation intelligently and sensitively through the sometimes contentious years of liturgical reform in the 1970’s. He taught this parish to love worship that could be both reverent and fresh, familiar and experimental. 

Then there are habits of ministry that we have developed together in these 30 years. At this point, they are so much an enduring part of this community’s foundation, that it would take a crowbar to wrench them out of you. 

You generate many more opportunities for spiritual formation than most parishes do. Later, at Annual Meeting, we’ll hear about a new emphasis for spirituality in 2013 that you’re calling The Year of Pilgrimage. I didn’t come up with this - you did. But more importantly, you always maintain a palpable atmosphere of devotion, self-reflection, and prayer -  before and throughout worship, in meetings and other gatherings. You create and maintain this by your spiritual authenticity. 

You also continually generate new ways of serving and partnering with the poor and the disadvantaged in the wider community. Later at our meeting you’ll be hearing about a new initiative that is rising out of our year-long process we’ve called Who is My Neighbor? It will be entirely lay-led. 

And we have gotten to the point where our most essential ministries are skillfully maintained by dozens of experienced and lay leaders, whether you look at pastoral care, spiritual discernment, children and youth, or communication and administration. These habits of professionalism and sensitivity have become ingrained in the community, and are not going anywhere. 

But even more deeply, there is something that endures that is much more important than our personality, than our habits of worship and ministry. It is the very nature of what we are about as a faith community. It is what St. Paul wrote about in our second lesson today. 

I want you to know that these are not just words. They are real, here, in this place. I don’t just believe, as a theological principle, what Paul was writing about. I experience it every day. 

Paul says that the church is like the human body. Our body is wondrously made with hundreds - trillions, if you count neurons and cells - of interconnected parts: fingers, hairs, ligaments, organs, bones, ears. Paul says that every single part of the human body is necessary, and has an important function. And yet all of these diverse parts, all of these functions, are held together and coordinated in their activity by one mind, one soul. 

So it is, Paul says, with the church. We are the physical body of Jesus Christ on earth. And this body is made up of many parts. Every single one of us, as individual members of the one body, is essential to the working of the whole. As Paul reminds us, none of us can say to the other “I have no need of you,” any more than the eye can say this to the hand. 

For where would we be without mystics and contemplatives? What would the church be like without accountants? I wouldn’t want to be in a church that didn’t include the occasional homeless person that walks in off the street. We would fall apart without administrators. And what would it be like if there were no artists, no musicians? We even need difficult and disturbed people; they become our teachers as we learn patience, acceptance, and unconditional love. 

Paul goes on with the metaphor, saying that all these diverse members share the one Spirit. We’re all animated by one spiritual force that is within everything and everyone. It’s not as if we’re all connected to God separately, sort of like individual threads that go from our heart to a common point in the sky. It is more like the interconnected parts of a human body that are all harmoniously coordinated by one mind, one soul, all at the same time. And have no doubt, this mind, this Spirit, will guide and provide for you through the months and years ahead. It always has and it always will. 

These are not just words. This vision of our faith community as an amazingly diverse body whose members are animated by the one Spirit - it is real, and those of you who are involved in anything here know it. This unity within our diversity, this human variety and divine empowerment - this is precisely what gives us strength, enduring strength. 

Finally, I want to say something about our gospel today. In it, Jesus goes into his own congregation, the synagogue in Nazareth. He opens the scripture and reads to them. They are nice verses from the Bible, and everyone smiles approvingly. 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 

They nodded their heads, comfortable at the sound of these familiar, pious words. And then Jesus said something that shocked them all. Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing, too, St. Michael and All Angels. Today, we bring good news to the poor in the North Valley of Albuquerque. Today, we proclaim release to the captives and freedom to those who have been oppressed by homophobia, fundamentalism, isolation, or the stale emptiness of secularism. Today, we bring sight to those who have been spiritually blind, opening their eyes to God’s love and the riches that come with faith. Today, the scriptures are fulfilled in your hearing. 

This is what endures. Christ is here, embodied in you. You are his hands and feet and heart and mind. He is infinitely varied in the diversity of his members, and all of you are needed. The Spirit is your common breath, your heartbeat. The Spirit is your shared wisdom and intelligence, your inspiration and creativity, your love and your soul. And all of this works together for the glory of God and the benefit of God’s people. 

These are the things you can count on, and they will endure long beyond both me and you in this place. 

So long live Christ, whom you embody! 
Long live the Spirit, who animates your common life! 
And long live St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church! 

WEDDING AT CANA SERMON  JANUARY 20, 2013

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;  Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

A little more than a year ago, I climbed off the bus with a group from our diocese, in what is now the modern town of CANA of Galilee.    Everywhere along the street were signs:  Here is where Jesus performed his first miracle.  Come and buy wine here!!!

I have to admit that standing in the streets of Cana was not as memorable as seeing one of the very early (probably even from the time of Jesus) stone jars that was used to keep water for ceremonial purification purposes.  This was an immense vessel, ABOUT THE SIZE OF AN AVERAGE 30 GALLON GARBAGE CONTAINER.  The religion of the day held that the faithful, would be cleansed, ritually speaking, by pouring water over their hands.

These huge stone jars, in our gospel lesson, become a symbol of HOPE, of God’s abundant grace and transforming love and most certainly a sign of NEW BEGINNINGS FOR JESUS' MINISTRY.

What we know from our gospel reading is this:  here was Jesus, his disciples and his mother …. all at a wedding.  And weddings in the first century typically lasted at least seven days.  This wedding may have been in its third day – so there were a number of days left for celebrating….. and most embarrassing for the host and hostess,  THEY HAD RUN OUT OF WINE!

Jesus may have told his mother something like this:  ….”Now mother, don’t drag me into this mess, I didn’t have anything to do with it, and this isn’t my time right now.” 

Put yourself in Mary's place.  Some scholars think that Mary may have been related to the wedding hosts.  SO WHAT COULD MARY DO?   There were no grocery stores or Coscos down the street in which to run in and choose from shelf after shelf of various wines.  Instead, Mary puts her hopes on Jesus, as she says to the steward, "Anything at all that he tells you..do!"

We are told that the stone water jars are empty; and Jesus directs that the jars be filled with water, which they did…..TO THE BRIM…..and the jars, once filled, turn into wine. Jesus substitutes the legal function of purification in order to save a bridal banquet.

Then our gospel says: “ and his disciples believed in him.”

The writer of the gospel emphasizes the large water jars and their ritual function, which is of the Law, and the unexpectedness of the transformed water, which we recognize as a sign of becoming something new.   All this as a beginning – not an ending!
The Miracle at Cana points to a new day:  Definitely a “transformation”.  What Jesus ushers in is something miraculously new and different from what anyone might have imagined.  The Cana miracle and the multiplication of the loaves early in church history... become symbols for the bread and wine of the Eucharist.

At any wedding, then as now, there are bound to be tears of sadness and joy.  After all, there is a change of status and new relationships about to take place.  We are approaching a time as well…. at St Michael’s, when we will be experiencing a change … a time to experience new relationships and a change in status of a long time relationship with our rector.  And of course there are tears of joy and sadness all mixed together.

I think our gospel story might move each of us today, in this very important time of transition, as well as the time of discerning how we are to proceed with the “Who is My Neighbor” ministry.  Just as the abundance of God’s grace and love is a theme that can flow out of these huge stone jars, so too can an abundance of God’s grace and love flow from St. Michael’s in the coming year.  It's a time as our rector minded us last week:  a time to say YES to NEW BEGINNINGS!

We aren’t called to try and keep our frame of reference in terms of how things always are, or how things have always been done, or even whether we believe what things become possible with God ……rather we are called to recognize how active the holy presence of God is when we are open and willing, as Mary says, to do whatever he tells us.  This means to move forward!

I absolutely love this quote by Valentin Tomberg that Cynthia Bourgeault quotes in her book “Mystical Hope: Trusting in the Mercy of God.”

Hope is not something subjective due to an optimistic or sanguine temperament, nor a desire for compensation in the sense of modern Freudian or Adlerian psychology.  Rather, it is a light-force which radiates objectively and which directs creative evolution toward the world’s future.  It (HOPE) is the celestial and spiritual counterpart of terrestrial and natural instincts of biological reproduction…In other words,  HOPE IS WHAT MOVES AND DIRECTS SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION IN THE WORLD.

As Cynthia reflects on this concept of hope she says:
“the nature of hope is to move, and to move forward. “ As we let ourselves yield and go with the current flow of hope, it will open us toward the authentic unfolding of our being.  The opposite is also just as true;  any form of resistance, be it nostalgia, clinging, bitterness, self-pity, or self –justification, will make it impossible to find that current of hope,  impossible for hope to carry us to our true becoming.”
I believe that this is not the time to be skeptical about the hope of new beginnings, but rather a time of celebration with the community... in a continuing transformation of ourselves as St. Michaels'.

Hope, like the Greek word “arche” used in the gospel, (meaning a beginning) reminds us that HOPE lies at the beginning as we are to move forward;  and it does not come at the end, as the feeling that results from a happy outcome.
Hope is not imaginary, or illusory, any more than our gospel story of turning water into wine was an illusion.  Like the steward who tasted the “new wine” and said…”Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk.  But you have kept the good wine until now.”  I don’t think the steward had any idea where the wine came from, but the reality of it was he recognized this as being new wine!

What we are called to do and to be in these months ahead is a willingness to focus on our continued journey of transformation.  Our lives, the life of this parish, is to be like the jar of water transformed:  Each of us, this parish, unique, yet the expression of becoming ALL that we are called to become.
There is an old Hasidic tale that reminds us of how things are able to happen when we open our hearts.
The pupil comes to the rabbi and asks "Why does Torah tell us to place the wisdom of these holy words UPON our hearts?  Why does it not tell us to place these holy words IN our hearts?  The rabbi answers, "It is because as we are, our hearts are too often closed, and we cannot yet place the wisdom of these words IN our hearts.  So, we place them on top of our hearts.  And there they stay until the day our hearts break open, and the words of wisdom, fall in."

As we open our hearts, we too will discover the spirit and wisdom of BECOMING who God has called us to be.  The huge stone jars, EMPTY, BUT WAITING, a symbol of HOPE AND TRANSFORMATION, …ARE most certainly a sign of NEW BEGINNINGS for us this day and in the days to come.

AMEN

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January 6, 2013
The Feast of the Epiphany
The Rev. Brian C. Taylor

If I were to give a pop quiz this morning on the liturgical seasons, I imagine that almost everyone could say something intelligible about Lent: penitence, prayer, self-denial, things like that. Some of you would be able to give an answer about Advent, especially if you’ve recently taken my online crash course: expectation, preparing the way for Christ to be born in us. Easter season? Well, if you don’t know there’s a 7-week season following Easter Sunday, we can offer a remedial make-up session on that, but here’s a hint: it all has to do with resurrection. 

But the season of Epiphany is reserved for extra credit. For who really knows what this wintry liturgical time is all about, varying in length from 4 to 9 weeks? 

It starts today on the Feast of the Epiphany, which is always celebrated on January 6, only occasionally falling on a Sunday. As we heard in the gospel, this day is a kind of extension of Christmas, with the baby Jesus still glowing in the manger, the star of Bethlehem overhead, and the 3 wise men bearing symbolic gifts. 

At the end of the season of Epiphany, no matter how many weeks in length, is the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountaintop. There he became dazzlingly white, a vision of God’s glory in light inexpressible, normally hid from our eyes. 

Both are called manifestations, which is what “Epiphany” means, when Christ’s true nature was revealed. For when Jesus was born, he manifested God’s glory such that the wise men were inexplicably drawn to him as the Savior. And as a transfigured adult on the mountaintop, his divine nature was shown openly as never before, rendering his disciples senseless. 

In between these two powerful manifestations of divine light we see Jesus moving out into Galilee, beginning his ministry. He is baptized, empowered by the Spirit. He draws disciples to join him. He goes about teaching and healing, performing miracles and getting himself into trouble. It is a kind of mini-series on his 3-year public life. 

So this season takes us on Jesus’ journey from the possibilities inherent in his creation as the Son of God, through the difficult work of becoming who he was meant to be, culminating in his glorious fulfillment. As such, it is the human story: creation, becoming, and fulfillment. 

Sometimes when one of you comes to talk to me about possible changes - big changes - you are unsure about or trying to live into, we end up talking about this human story of creation, becoming, and fulfillment. 

Some of you have come wondering about ordination. Others are considering a complete change of career. Some are contemplating whether, after years of fruitless effort to heal a marriage, you should get a divorce and start over again. And the change that many of you are considering is how to live out of that central place within where God is. You have a strong intuition that if you can, you will finally be at home, and truly come alive. 

We often begin by talking about potential. You wouldn’t be considering a big change if you didn’t have the sense that there is more of life in store for you, and that you might, by the grace of God, be able to find it. However vague that sense may be, it is the hint of potential, the itch to become more of what you are created to be. 

It is astounding that of all the billions of people on this planet who have ever been and who ever will be, not one is identical to another. Each and every one of us is unique. And we become more unique as we accumulate experiences, memories, suffering, relationships. I believe that this uniqueness is God’s gift to us as created beings. 

We say that we are created in the image of God. What does this mean? That we are supposed to conform to one model, like religious Ken and Barbie dolls? Of course not. Being created in God’s image means that God manifests in an infinitely varied number of humans. Each of us is a tiny facet of God’s own being. In fact, God manifests in everything, in everyone, all the time. The world, and all the humans who have ever been, are a vast, divine Epiphany. 

 So if you are created as a unique facet of God, if you are a manifestation of the Creator, then it is your responsibility to find your fulfillment, to become fully yourself, so that you will not block God’s self-manifestation in creation. 

What this means is that making a change that we think just might the right thing, the thing that will help us be more fully and naturally ourselves, is not just a matter of doing what we want to do. It is a matter of fulfilling a sacred obligation to God, who is trying to live through us. And this indeed might mean ordination, a career change, a divorce, a changed marriage, or a more spiritually-centered lifestyle: whatever it is that will make more of us, make us more real, more truly ourselves.  

Saying “yes” to this kind of change can be a way of stepping into the potential with which God created us. It is what Jesus stepped into in the Jordan River when he was baptized. He said “yes” to manifesting as the 1st-century Jewish Messiah. He said “yes” to his divine potential given in his creation. 

After we’ve said “yes,” however - then comes the hard part: becoming. As Jesus roamed about Galilee - teaching, healing, making friends, getting into trouble - we roam about, too. We try to find ourselves, we decide to become different, we set up an ideal self that we strive towards. Sometimes I think this is all rather misguided. 

I think our work of becoming is simply the removal of obstacles that keep God from manifesting naturally through us. Our lifelong work is that of uncovering and moving beyond our fear, our tendencies to isolate or self-destruct, or whatever it is we do that keeps us off-center, inauthentic, unloving, anxious. And we can only do this work with the grace of God - that power that helps us do what we cannot do by ourselves alone. 

When these obstacles are out of the way, God’s own life is free to rise up through our unique personality. We can be more natural, confident, spontaneous, manifesting that one beautiful facet of God’s being that only we can show. So we don’t create a self; we allow the self which God has created to be. 

You have probably known some people who are unselfconsciously themselves. They may be fat or thin, beautiful or ugly, cranky or cheerful, very young or very old, smart or dull. None of this matters if they are unhindered by fear, control, ego, or other obstacles to their natural, created self. They may be eccentric, but if their heart is free, they are attractive. They are just themselves, and we are drawn to them. 

This is a kind of transfiguration. For it is the unobstructed light of God shining through a human being, for all the world to see. It is the fulfillment of a God-given potential. And seeing it, we wonder at God’s marvelously varied creativity. 

So if you ever face an exam that asks you what the season of Epiphany is all about, just say that it is a story about creation, becoming, and fulfillment. Say that it is the story about Jesus shining with potential as a divine baby, his struggle to become the Messiah, and his shining, again, in spiritual maturity. 

But most importantly, say that Epiphany is your story. This story begins with your unique creation as a reflective facet of your Creator. It continues the work, in partnership with God, of removing the obstacles in your path. And it is fulfilled in you as a free and natural being, shining with the light of God, for all the world to see.