Summer of Love

In San Francisco back in the 1960's, there was a certain summer that was called the "Summer of Love." In many ways, that place and time was simply a big, long party for the young people who indulged themselves in all sorts of hedonistic behavior. Though I cannot condone those aspects of that summer, I have also heard stories that vaguely remind me of the early church: stories of people who took in strangers and cared for them, people who shared their food with those who had none.

In the Christian life, all seasons, the entire year through, are designated as times of love. Jesus calls his people to love one another, no matter the place, time or situation. Summer in particular is a hard time for many of the poor here in Pflugerville. The breakfast and lunch programs available for children in the schools suddenly end with the summer break from classes. The Storehouse, our local food pantry, has an influx of people requesting more food because the children are home full time and the cupboards are bare. Remember our commitment to serve those in need. Bring your gifts of non-perishable foods, most especially canned meats and dry grains (rice and beans) for the storehouse.

Our community has many hurting people and they are praying for help. Your hands are God's hands, moving in the world to care for all God's people. Let's make this Pflugerville's Summer of Love by providing for the needs of the people of our town. May God bless you as you serve him through serving His people!

Don't Worry, Be Happy

I've been thinking about peace. In last Sunday's gospel, Jesus kept giving the disciples his peace. And one of the few things that never changes in a Eucharist liturgy is all the people giving each other God's peace. Wow! If we could just sit with that long enough, and be aware of God intensely enough, we really could have that peace that wipes away anxiety and worry. God does take care of us, and God wants us to enfold in our being that peace which passes understanding. Sounds almost like a Bobby McLaren moment...You know, "Don't worry -- be happy." Maybe that's my new mantra.....

Oh, Dear Ones,
My heart is so heavy -- it is truly broken. St. Paul's has lost a most precious member of our family. Rose Binyi was just 44, wife of Michael Kilongson, both of them Sudanese immigrants, both of them citizens of the U.S.

Jude (7) and Edward (3) are their children, and Rose was pregnant with their third. On her way home from working a double shift, with streets wet with rain, and on a very curvy road, Rose lost control of her car, and she and her unborn child are now with God in heaven.

Michael lost his job in high tech over a year ago, and he has been caring for the boys and attempting to start his own healthcare business while Rose held down two jobs. Our dear Lord is the only one who knows how the three of them will continue on. St. Paul's is determined to pull together and provide whatever they need, as we are able. There is also a strong Sudanese immigrant community and they have really rallied around to help.

It seems odd to go online at my blog and ask for assistance, but this is bigger than any of us individually. If you have the wherewithal to do so, please send your check to: St. Paul's Episcopal Church, P. O. Box 28, Pflugerville, TX 78691 -- and mark the check to the Kilongson fund. It will be a charitable contribution. We will use the funds to pay for the funeral and various other expenses to care for the boys until we can find employment for Michael and affordable day care for Edward. God bless you each and everyone!

1st Sunday in Lent: God has blessed us, Sinners tho' we be

Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
Romans 10-8b-13
Luke 4:1-13

Jesus, just like all of us, was tempted. He was tempted to selfishly use his God-given power to relieve his own hunger and break his fast, rather than keeping to the discipline he had set for himself. He was tempted to grab earthly power and let his all too human ego take first place, tempted to become the earthly ruler that the Jews expected to come and rescue them from the Romans. He was even tempted to show off supernatural powers by seeming to take flight, and calling the angels to set him down gently on the hallowed ground outside the temple. Though it isn’t mentioned in the scriptures, I imagine that like any other thirty-year-old man, one who is torn by thoughts of being selfish, powerful and egotistical, he was also tempted by lust.

Does that sound sacrilegious to you? It’s important that we remember that while Jesus was fully divine, he was also fully human. He fully experienced every human emotion and trial that we experience, tempted and torn by the actions of others as well as his own inner feelings and desires, just like us. And yet, we are told that he was without sin. He chose God, and his relationship with God rather than succumbing to temptation. Would that we were like him!

However, we are not. We all fall short of the glory that he exemplified in his life here on Earth. We are tempted daily, whether by envy, or sloth, gluttony or selfishness, impatience, right on up to uncontrolled anger, and yes, lust, perhaps even adultery. Blaming others for our own mistakes, even if only in our thoughts. Being self-righteous and thinking we are better than other people. Not having a heart of forgiveness when others hurt us.

Our headlines for this week show us good examples of how temptation to sin can get out of control. Tiger Woods said it perfectly. He had worked so hard all his life to be the best, that he felt he deserved to enjoy all the temptations of life. And they are so easy to find. I am sure he never meant to hurt anyone…but he didn’t think, and he forgot God and his vows, and he hurt a lot of people, including himself.

Joe Stack appeared to be a normal, regular everyday sort of guy according to his acquaintances. But he held grudges he never mentioned to anyone, until it all boiled out of control on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. We don’t yet know, but I think perhaps he had deep-seated mental problems, rather than simply being tempted into sin. However, that’s how his illness played itself out: he sinned against hundreds of people, most especially the one he killed and those he injured and traumatized, as well as those he supposedly loved, his family.

Those are big, headline types of sin, but our scriptures tell us that sin is sin, and shouldn’t be graded according to how dramatic or well known it is. Sin is quite simply anything, thought or action, that separates us from God: anything that takes us away or removes us from relationship with God. If you are like me, you experience sin in your life on a daily basis. I know I am frequently aware that I have done or said something that has turned my back to God, and I must turn around again, for that’s what the word “repentance” means, to “turn around” and live moving toward God. It is a like being a soldier on guard, trying to be aware of every movement away from Him. There is no way to accomplish it, for we simply are not capable of being perfect.

And yet we are so blessed, in that God sent Jesus to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to Him. In our reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, we hear the glorious news that our sins no longer condemn us: "The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

No matter how tough the times are for you right now, whether you’ve lost your job or your household is in chaos, there is no question that we are blessed. We have been given an amazing heritage through our faith, and through the lives of our ancestors, those who went before us and brought us to this country where we can worship and live in freedom. Our immigrant members know first hand how supremely blessed even the poorest of the poor are here in the U.S. How wonderful it is to live in a place where there is relative peace in our neighborhoods, and we have the ability to work and have shelter, food, and medical care. It truly is a land of milk and honey that we have inherited.

In our lesson from Deuteronomy today, we are told one of the ways we are to honor God and to thank Him for our blessings. We are to bring the first fruits of our labors to Him. Now I sincerely hope you don’t want to string me up for mentioning this subject again, but the scriptures brought it up: I’m merely following the lectionary. Among the things that blesses us most is our church community. We are extended family, and care for one another, and for the larger community around us. We come together to worship, and to learn about God, and to further his kingdom on Earth.

How are we to do that if St. Paul’s has to close its doors? Where will we meet if we can’t pay the electric bill? We’ve done some pretty amazing things in the last few years, mainly because we were able to find grant money, and a few people who were willing to help us anonymously so that we could build the new additions to our church. Those people and foundations who helped us were not members of this church, but they had faith in us that we were doing good work for God and his people. But now we’ve got a problem: quite a few of our members are not financially supporting us.

God asks each of us to give of our time, our talents and our money to further the work of the church. The church needs and expects all of those things from its members. If you have not turned in a pledge card, do so. And don’t leave the money part blank. Determine that you will find $5 or $10 dollars a week to give St. Paul’s, even if it means skipping a meal…you remember that fasting thing? It won’t disturb you greatly to try that out every once in a while. Depend on God to protect and guide you. And as the Psalmist wrote, “you shall say to the Lord, ‘You are my refuge and my stronghold, my God in whom I put my trust.’ Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the most high your habitation…He shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.”

All of us are sinners, but we have been given an Advocate with the Father, His only Son, and he has sent the Holy Spirit, to guide and guard our ways. Let us praise God with all our being, giving ourselves and all our lives to Him in awesome gratitude for all He has given us! Amen.

Miracles of Wine and Spirit

Sermon for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany

I Corinthians 12:1-11
John 2:1-11

It always made me wonder: why did Jesus make so much wine? I mean, 6 huge pots that held 20 to 30 gallons each? That’s a prodigious amount of wine. Well, I’m going to explain why they needed so much. Marriage at the time of Jesus wasn’t a religious celebration so much as it was a contract between two families, with the prospective groom paying the bride’s father for the bride at the betrothal. The contract, or ketubah, was signed and given to the prospective bride, setting out the financial arrangements and terms of maintenance of the marriage. The wedding took place as soon after the engagement as the groom could prepare a home for the bride.
The actual wedding was a procession of the groom and his friends to the bride’s home, where they met the bride and her friends and family, and then everyone returned to the groom’s house to party, and I mean party. Jewish wedding feasts of that time went on for a full seven days! The bride and groom would go into seclusion during part of the time, but the guests continued to party and feast for the whole week. So, lots of wine would be expected and necessary. So much for the trivia, let’s take a close look at this exchange between Jesus and his mother.
To remind you of the sequence of things, Jesus had gone to the Jordan River and been baptized by John, at which time God announced from the heavens that Jesus was His son, in whom He was well pleased. The Gospel of John doesn’t mention Jesus’ temptation in the desert, but has him beginning to gather his apostles the very next day. And today’s reading begins, “on the third day” – so in John, this first recorded miracle occurs just two days after Jesus’ baptism. No wonder our Lord didn’t feel ready!
Theologians through the ages have argued back and forth over things we aren’t told in the Bible: Did Jesus know he was the Son of God while he was growing up? Could he and did he perform miracles as a child? Or was it at his baptism that it came fully upon him what he was and what he was called to do? From our story it seems as though Mary is telling her son to make more wine for the wedding, but if we didn’t know the story and were merely eavesdropping on this scene, it’s possible that we might expect Jesus’ next action to be to tell the servants to come with him to the wine shop to help carry the amphoras of wine back to the party. But by what he does, I believe his mother knew him well, and had no doubt of what he could accomplish.
Even though he says he isn’t ready, Mary expects her son to mind her request, and like any good Jewish son, he listens to his mother. As he performs his first miracle, it seems to be almost against his will. Jesus, like any of us human beings when called to a great and unusual task, tried to put it off, to say, not yet, not now, not me. Isn’t that what we most often do, when we are challenged to do something that is beyond our comfort zone, a bigger task than we’ve ever attempted before? Or something totally new and different that seems difficult? No, you don’t really mean me, do you? Oh, no, that’s a job for someone else, or maybe a committee needs to take this one on, not me.
In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians which Karen read to us earlier, Paul teaches them, and us, about spiritual gifts. He says that there are different types of gifts, and service, and activities in the kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit brings all these gifts; it is God who gives these abilities, and He gives every one of His children spiritual gifts for the common good. Every one: that’s you, and you, and you, and me. We are all given gifts, and we are to use them to serve God and our fellow man by doing different activities that our gifts suit us for to grow the kingdom.
In this particular passage, Paul speaks of the gifts of the Spirit: Some of us are given the ability to speak wisely and give good, Godly advice to those around them. Others can share their knowledge and have a natural talent for teaching; some people are endowed with great faith, and their quiet trust can be an example to us all. There are those here who have the gift of healing: who have a healing touch and a comforting way, and believe it or not, there is most likely at least one person here who could perform miracles, if they believed they could.
Prophecy is one we frequently misunderstand: it is not telling fortunes or foreseeing the future, it’s speaking the truth – telling people what is going on in the here and now that we might not realize or notice. It’s calling people out to be their best selves, and it is a great and fearsome gift, one that is not easily accepted, as we know by reading about the prophets in the Bible: people rarely want to hear the truth about themselves.
Paul speaks of discernment of spirits, and I found this explanation in the writings of the Rev. Murray Spackman: “The dictionary defines “discernment” as being able to see clearly, to distinguish, discriminate, to see or understand differences; to have clarity of mental insight. When this word is linked with “spirits” some may begin to think we are getting a bit spooky, but stick with me. Discernment of spirits then, is the ability, the God given gift, of being able to distinguish in a given situation, whether there are human, divine or demonic forces, spirits or powers at work. Discernment of spirits can operate from the very ordinary to the very spooky, but we need to be aware of the full range.
St. Paul, writing to the church in Thessalonica says – “”Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of the prophets, but test everything…” This is a good sound principle for the Church – test everything! Don’t just take at face value everything that is said or proposed, or spoken, even if a person claims to have a word from God. Check it out: test it! Someone will make a statement and it may sound fairly good and correct, but sometimes, how it is said, or the exact content of the statement, or the implications of what is said will cause a disquiet within one or some of those who hear it. That person may not be able to put their finger on exactly WHAT it is that gives them this disquiet and unease, but they will know that it doesn’t seem right. That is the gift of discernment of spirits at work. It is interesting that often those who are generally very quiet verbally are given this gift, and it is tremendously beneficial for the church. So, if you are one of those people who often sit quietly in meetings and don’t say much, but within your spirit you feel at some point a strong impression, either for good or of disquiet, then I encourage you to exercise your gift and share that feeling or impression. It may well be an important warning or signal for the church. So the gift of discernment of spirits, at its simplest level, can help us to discern when something is motivated by God’s spirit or else motivated by our own human spirit, and as we know, our wisdom doesn’t always follow God’s wisdom.”
Now the gift of tongues is one we Episcopalians know almost nothing about. And some Pentecostal churches that insist you aren’t saved unless you have this gift don’t seem to know much about it either. It is my understanding that the gift of tongues is something like the language of angels, and usually has a strong message for the church. Most often, the person speaking in tongues has no understanding of what the meaning of their utterance is: it is just gibberish to them. The way we know that it’s more than just noise is that someone truly speaking in tongues is always accompanied by another person who has been given the gift of interpreting what is being said. I’ve never seen this happen, but St. Paul says that the Holy Spirit activates these gifts just as surely as the Spirit activates all the others, just as the Spirit chooses.
Scripture tells us that we all are given gifts of the Spirit, and some of us even have the gift of doing miracles! All of these gifts are miraculous in their own way, and when God gives us something, we are to acknowledge it and use it to his glory and for the furthering of his kingdom on Earth.
God calls us. Sometimes He calls us through our friends. Perhaps he will call you through your children, or something you are asked to do here. Maybe you younger ones will be called through your Mother or your Father. Maybe we’ll argue, like Jesus did to Mary—“What do we have to do with this? It’s not my time.” Maybe you’ll say no for years. No, you don’t really mean me, do you? Oh, no, that’s a job for someone else. I know I said no for years, and kept doing the easy stuff, hoping God would say it was enough. But He kept at me until I gave in, gave myself to him completely and said yes. The funny thing is, though my life is different than I thought it would be, I’m happier and more full of joy than I ever knew it was possible to be. I didn’t have to give up anything that really mattered to me; I didn’t even have to really change at all. All that I did was surrender my life to Him, and let Him lead me, and oh, what an amazingly wonderful ride this past five years has been! I call you, on behalf of our Lord God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of Life, come! Give your life over to Him, and open your hearts to whatever gifts He has for you. My friends, you have a glorious life ahead of you! Say yes, say yes…Yes, Lord….Come, Lord Jesus…Amen.

Welcome to fall!

Well, I certainly didn't intend to just drop the blog for the entire summer, but that's obviously what happened! Not only did I relax and read a lot, we traveled and in spite of the heat and drought had a wonderful summer. We're enduring recovery of my hero's recent foot surgery and he's not having the easiest time of it -- but it will be over in the not too distant future. Here below is the Rally Day sermon for our mission in the 'burb. Time to step up to the plate and hit some home runs out of the ball park. Hey, it is September, and the playoffs are close, football is taking over the airwaves! (Patricia, mentioned in the sermon, is our wonderful Director of Congregational Development.)

A little over a week ago, I went to the installation of Morgan Allen as the new rector of Church of the Good Shepherd. It was a beautiful service with Bishop Andy Doyle as celebrant. My dear friend, Dr. Roger Paynter of First Baptist was the preacher. Roger spoke to Morgan, and to all of us who are ministers, that our job is not simply to be pastors, but to also be prophets. Now many people believe that word “prophet” means someone who sees into the future, like a fortune-teller. That’s not the Biblical definition. What the prophets in the Bible, and prophets today do, is speak the truth in love. It is a job that isn't as easy as being a pastor -- someone who cares for and shepherds the congregation. Rather, Roger was telling us that it is important to speak out the truth of what we see in our congregations, and in the world. To not only love and care for our people, but also to challenge our people to grow in their love of the Lord – to help our members become stronger, more spirit-filled Christians, rejoicing in doing the work of God.
In our Old Testament reading for today, we hear words of prophecy. Wisdom cries out to the people, “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?” The writer of Proverbs is telling the people that it is time to wake up and pay attention, that it is way past time for the people to turn from being caught up in the world, and time to focus on the truth to be gleaned from immersing themselves in holiness.
Peter was the “rock” upon whom Jesus built his church – the #1 disciple, right? And yet, in today’s Gospel, Jesus has no hesitation in saying to him, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." Jesus is prophesying, telling the truth to his premiere disciple, calling Peter to face his lack of understanding, to see how his view of life was caught up in the mundane, the worldly, rather than striving to see with a spiritual, God-focused heart.
We have a few people here at St. Paul’s who are obviously in love with God and his church. They actively embrace whatever opportunity is offered to learn more about God, and they join in study and conversation. They devote energy to making this community a family. They have never stopped seeking a deeper relationship with God.
And there are those here who have yet to hear the intensity and recognize the importance of God’s call. There are some of us who may see themselves in the words of this poem by Wilbur Rees:
I would like to buy three dollars worth of God, please.
I would like to buy just a little of the Lord.

Not enough to explode my soul and disturb my sleep.

Not enough to take control of my life.

I want just enough to equal a cup of warm milk.

Just enough to ease some of the pain from my guilt.

I would like to buy three dollars worth of God, please.

I would like to find a love that is pocket-sized.

I don’t want enough of God to make me love a black man, or pick beets with a migrant. Not enough to change my heart.

I can only stand just enough to take to church when I have time.

Just enough to equal a snooze in the sunshine.

I want ecstasy, not transformation.

I want the warmth of the womb, but not a new birth.

I would like to purchase a pound of the eternal in a paper sack.

If it doesn’t work, I would like to get my money back.

I would like to buy three dollars worth of God, please.

I would like to hide some for a rainy day.

Not enough for people to see a change in me.

Not enough to impose any responsibility.

Just enough to make folks think I am ok.

Could I just get three dollars worth of God, please?”

I speak frequently of the Holy Spirit setting hearts on fire – the transforming power that comes from being in love with God. Have you ever personally experienced it? Perhaps the flame burns brightly in your heart. Or has the flame now become a barely smoldering coal, or even gone cold? If you take a coal from the fire and set it on the edge of the hearth, the flame quickly dies down and the coal quits burning. Yet the coals in the midst of the fire will continue to burn brightly, because they feed each other. It is that same experience in the church. Yes, corporate worship is important, this altar is where we come to be fed, both spiritually and physically, it is where we praise and worship our Lord. But also important is our time together in study and group prayer, in sharing our lives, in getting to know one another intimately, becoming true family. Our Lord is calling us to build a close-knit community here, one that spends quality time together, interacting with one another as well as worshipping together. A community that rejoices in working together to bring hope to the world around us.
In the next few weeks, we are going to offer and encourage, challenge and inspire each and every one of us, of all ages, to come together and build up the fire of the Holy Spirit in this place. I have mentioned our audio Bible challenge over the past couple of weeks. We will begin listening to the New Testament next Sunday, the 20th, when every member will be given their free CD of the New Testament. In addition, Patricia and I have spent many hours praying for guidance for ways to bring us closer to one another and to God, to hear God’s vision for St. Paul’s. Patricia, please come up here and tell the people about some ideas we’ve had that we believe God is calling us to do.
(Patricia’s time, in which she spoke beautifully of storytelling, teaching/mentoring, outreach, pastoral care, and a social dinner gathering that the Episcopal Church calls Foyers. These will be continuing areas of study and activity. She also explained again our wonderful new program called "Faith Comes by Hearing" in which we all have CDs to listen to the New Testament, 28 minutes a day for 40 days. We will finish the NT just in time for Advent. We also welcomed the input of all members into a discernment process for other things we could do together to build the church.)

Closing Prayer:
Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy Immortal One, Bless us we pray. Send down upon this place the fire of your Holy Spirit. Break open our hearts, Lord; that we may be filled with your love. Hold us in your hand, Lord, and blow upon us the wind of your Spirit, that the light of your love will become a raging fire that will set this community ablaze. In the name of your Son Jesus we pray, Amen.

Playing for Change

Dear Ones, This is an amazing amalgam of musicians, working together in unity and love. Listen to the newest song, then go to playingforchange.org to read about their philosophy, how they do what they do, and hear more music!