Open in what counts

(Originally published in the February 2012 Newsletter)

The following is adapted from Janet’s Feb. 5 Annual Meeting address. Originally published on page 1 of the Feb. 16, 2012, St. Columba's newsletter.

I don’t know if you’ve seen the new ad for the Episcopal Church that’s been making the rounds on Facebook and other social media. It includes three photos and this caption:

Lifting up Heart and Mind to God since 1784.

The photos depict an attractive young female priest, a happy family represented by two men with their two children, and a young man drinking a martini. If you’re not sure about that date, 1784, it’s simply the year that the Episcopal Church in the United States formally separated from the Church of England.

The sentiment of the ad seems to be that the Episcopal Church is not the kind of Christian denomination that marginalizes women and gay Christians. That’s wonderful! But what does the photo of a young man holding up a martini say about us? We like to drink? I’ve certainly been known to enjoy a Cosmopolitan on occasion, but I suspect it’s about something other than having a cocktail now and then.

I glean several messages from the ad: Episcopalians are progressive (including a genuine welcome to the LGBT community), we ordain women and we have a sense of humor. I also think there is another message behind all three images: We are not fundamentalists! I often have a sense that we are eager to say who we are not rather than who we are.

You won’t hear a sermon at St. C’s that suggests you are going to hell if you have a drink once in a while, if you are gay or if you have sex before marriage. No, we are committed to a holistic understanding of scripture as part of our Christian tradition. But do we identify our core purpose when we tell people who we are not? Are we communicating our core identity?

A couple of years ago I watched a video interview with members of our national church’s Executive Council. They were asked, “What is the Good News of the Episcopal Church?” Answers ran the gamut. The main theme, however, was that the Episcopal Church is open and welcoming to all. This is a good thing—a hard-won thing and something we continue to strive for—but it is not the heart of the thing. Being open isn’t enough. Sometimes I think that our core mission (as the Episcopal Church) is simply oppositional: We are not the Christians who scare you!

We often invite people to St. C’s by letting them know that we are not like some other denominations or parishes. Of course, we also include some positive details like good programs and worship.

But shouldn’t we be telling people what is at the heart of the Gospel for us? What’s so powerful that it draws us here over and over again? What is so powerful that in today’s Gospel Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law and others? But the next day, instead of healing those who have lined up to have hands laid on them, he pushes on to another town saying that his most important work is not healing but the proclamation of the reign of God. The healing of the sick is a sign of the proclamation but it’s not the whole proclamation.

The heart of our faith is that God gave up on sending messengers and sent God’s own self in the form of Jesus. We are beloved. All are beloved. In the assurance of God’s love we are transformed to live and work for the reign of God. I hope that’s what you hear from the pulpit every Sunday and in every program of formation that we offer. The power behind creation is love.

As powerful as that message is—and we can never tire of proclaiming it—there is more. The very love promised to each and every one of us is also the love that promises (it can also seem to be a threat) to transform our lives. It will change us and allow us to grow into the image of Christ. It means that we live in such a way that we project God’s love. We know that the fully realized reign of God is still in our future but it beckons us to work and to pray—Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done—with all the strength we have.

God’s reign is about justice and equality and all those things inscribed on our monuments but oh so very hard to live.

Let me remind you that over this past Advent and Christmastide we heard the proclamation of Mary’s Magnificat. She says that God “. . .has scattered the proud in their conceit; has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly; has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty . . .“

It sounds like an Occupy protest, doesn’t it? The good news for us is that we are the blessed and we are the rich! I know, we don’t feel rich, but look around—we are.

I love the four bullets of our mission statement. And I love that the first one is: OPEN IN SPIRIT. We seek to be open to each other, the world around us, other faiths and the doubt of faith.

Are we open and ready to cooperate with the transformation of the very privilege that sets us apart? That’s the scary part. It’s not that we might be mistaken for fundamentalists. It‘s that we might actually be transformed.

Repeat after me: We are blessed. We are privileged. It’s our joy and passion to open avenues of blessedness to others by sharing what we have.

That was easy!

At St. C’s we are not here just for ourselves even though we value the support and care we receive. We are Jesus’ disciples and the workers in God’s field. We are not responsible for accomplishing the reign of God in our time. We are called to add our substance to God’s work.

We love to say about ourselves that we are open. That’s good! Let us be radicals in our openness! Open in love, worship, service and giving. Yes, even in our financial giving!

Many years ago I heard Bill Tully tell this story: An IRS agent opens up a letter and out falls $500 in cash. There’s no return address and no signature but there is a note: I cheated on my taxes and haven’t slept since. Enclosed is $500. I’llsend more if I still can’t sleep.

There is a lot of anxiety in our country, indeed, in the whole world about finances and instability. There’s a lot of anxiety right here in this community about money. Will there be enough to get our kids through school? Can I afford to retire? Will I keep my job? All of those worries are real.

Can we face our fears and find ways to give more? The work of the Church and the work of St. Columba’s deserve our money, enough to allow us to flourish and grow.

Our pledge campaign does not close until the last day of each calendar year. It’s always the right time to give more or give for the first time.

We are growing in numbers, in depth and in faith. Let us also grow in financial generosity. We know who we are and we follow the banner of Christ. My deepest hope is that St. Columba’s will become who we say we are and who God has called us to be. Blessings!

Janet Vincent

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Open in what counts