Sunday, July 31, 2005

"You Feed Them..."

In this morning's Gospel, Jesus looked and saw a great crowd gathered around him, and he had compassion for them. Compassion is seen as not simply an emotion, but a catalyst to action. Jesus heals the sick. Mark's Gospel tells us that he teaches as well.

When evening came, we hear of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples , so that everyone could eat.

We feel the same compassion towards those we meet who are hurting. Hopefully, we also find compassion compelling us into action. There are a few things we can learn about being compassionate from this story.

First, no one has to earn God's compassion. The people gathered together on that day didn't do anything to make themselves deserving of Jesus miraculous gifts. All they had to do was show up.

No one needs to earn our compassion, either. We offer God's healing and God’s spiritual and physical nourishment to everyone whether they deserve it or not.

We feed the hungry because we have compassion for them. Not because they deserve it. Not because they are good people. Not because they meet an income guideline. We feed them because they are hungry.

I would imagine that some of us here this morning have had to go hungry for long periods of time. After a couple of weeks, I'm told that the craving for food goes away. My experience in this rich nation is that you can always find a little food once in a while, so you never get to the point where you lose the craving for food. I remember times in my life when the only thing I was aware of was my empty stomach. I would agree to all kinds of strange ideas if it would help me get a meal. Would I “accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior” for a meal? You bet. (This is known as “making rice Christians” in mission work.)

We don't feed the hungry with the hope of making converts. We feed them because they are hungry—period. We feed them because this is what Jesus told us to do. In the 25th chapter of Matthew, Jesus commends those who have fed the hungry, clothed the poor and visited the sick. He tells us that ”when you have done this for the least of those who are of my family, you have done it for me.”

I acknowledge the idea behind "if you feed them a fish, you feed them for a day, but if you teach them to fish, you feed them for a lifetime." There is wisdom in that. And I understand the idea of tough love—that sometimes we have to use drastic measures to stop enabling the dysfunctional behavior at the root of some people's poverty. But sometimes, I see those responses as simply excuses not to help those in need.

The United Nations estimates that today 852 million people are suffering malnutrition to the point where their health, productivity and life expectancy are impaired. Each day, 20,000 people die of hunger-related causes.

No one should go hungry. There is enough food. I think we need to reconsider treating the poor like trained seals. We don't reward them for right behavior. We feed them because of the compassion of God we have experienced in our lives.

Sometimes, feeding the hungry seems like an overwhelming task. It is, if we try to do it alone. At the beginning of this story, Jesus told the disciples to feed the people. They gathered what they could find: five loaves and two fish. They presented these meager provisions to Jesus. And it was enough. We do what we can do first, and then we trust God for the rest.

I think we miss that point sometimes.

There’s a story about a man who was visiting a local church. He arrived at the church early, so he sat on the front steps waiting for the church to open. The first person he saw was an elderly man slowly limping up to the front door of the church. The visitor introduced himself, learned that the elderly man’s name was Joe, and that he had been opening up this church every Sunday for 35 years.

Joe turned on the lights, got the furnace going, and prepared the church for the service.

Afterward the service, as people were filing out of the church, the visitor noticed that a number of people spoke to Joe, asking about his bad knee, and promising to remember him in their prayers. When they were all gone, the visitor mentioned to Joe that it must make him feel good to know all those folks would be praying for him.

“Yes, the prayers are nice,” said Joe. “But today, what I really could have used was a ride home!” We do what we can do first, and then trust God for the rest.

At the other extreme, we also have to be careful we don’t start thinking that we can solve the world’s problems all by ourselves. I find that when I try to show compassion on my own, I am often thwarted because of the fear that there might not be enough. I want to help, but my glass is already half empty. When I remember to take the situation to God in prayer, I am instilled with hope, because the glass is now half full.

There is enough food to feed all the hungry. There is enough grace to feed all the faithful. There will always be enough, if we put our trust in God’s abundance, and not in the ways of this world, driven by a fear of scarcity.

We have the compassion of God to offer to a hurting world. Let us work together to alleviate the suffering all around us. Let us do all we can do, and then trust God for the miracle.

July 31st, 2005

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Second Work Day a Success!

The hallway and ceiling have been painted, and they look great. Lunch was brought in by one of our Lunch Angels (Thank you, Lunch Angel). Our Junior Warden painstakingly sanded the wrought iron railing and then (equally painstakingly) repainted it, and it looks like new now! Thanks to the Ceiling Painter, the bricks painters and brush-washers, the Vicar's son (who painted the upper walls), the painter who realized that the WebDove didn't paint part of the molding around one of the doorways (oops) and doesn't mind standing on scaffolds, and the people who came in to visit and cheer us on while they did their Altar Guild jobs.

There is a cleaned-up lid in the Sexton's closet on the top shelf with the formula for mixing the next batch of paint in the right color at Home Depot.

Friday, July 29, 2005

Diocesan webpage has been updated!

YAY, we've been updated on the diocesan website listing all the parishes! Click here: www.newjersey.anglican.org

Yippeee!!!

--A very happy WebDove

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

We've been added to Google

I just added us to the Google URL search catalog. Pray for a fast propagation!



--The WebDove

July 30: Next Painting Day!

Saturday, July 30th, we will have another "Work Day!" Wear "paint clothes" and come paint with us; or, just come and cheer us on.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Ruach: the "Holy Spirit"

Definition of "ruach" from Anne Robertson:

When I read the word "wind" I always want to look back to Hebrew for one of my favorite words, ruach, which is what this word is. It means wind, breath, spirit. It's the word ruach that Genesis 1 talks about hovering over the waters at creation and bringing things to life. It's the ruach that God breathed into Adam and Eve, giving them life. It was the ruach that brought life to Ezekiel's valley of dry bones. The wind that blows away the chaff and leaves the mature grain is the breath of God. Notice that it doesn't single out the wicked for fiery breath. It doesn't breathe especially easy on the righteous either. The same ruach blows across the threshing floor of the full heads of grain and the empty ones. But the wicked haven't grown. They haven't matured. They have no substance. They are merely shells, and when that wind blows, it blows them away.

from Anne Robertson's sermons at St. John's, Dover

The Spirit's Soundings - Newsletter of June, 2005

From the Vicar...

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It is with great excitement that I join this household of God. It is my hope that together we will press forward towards the mission that God has given us.

How will we accomplish this mission? How will we live into God's calling for this congregation? I think that we must begin by listening; by discerning what it is that God would have us do. We will then need to develop a plan, with specific objectives and time frames. We will identify the gifts that God has given each of us, and seek to match these unique gifts with specific objectives.

Your Vestry has already started this process. Some preliminary decisions have been made. But it is essential for the future of this community that every member be heard and be given an opportunity to offer their gifts. To accomplish this, we will be holding at least three Community Meetings over the next months, with the first one to occur in September.

At our first Community Meeting, we will focus on the question, "Where have we been?" We will consider our past in an attempt to gain insight into the unique character of this congregation. At the second Meeting our question will be, "Where are we now?" We will reflect on the present, assessing our gifts, and our growing edges, in this present moment. In our final Meeting, we will ask ourselves, "Where are we going?" Using the insights we have gained from considering our past and taking inventory of our present situation, we will seek to discern the direction God is calling us to move into the future.

Your Vestry will then consider the insights gathered at these meetings and develop a strategic plan that will map out how we will implement our future goals.

In the meantime, what can we do?

1. Pray. Hold up our members in prayer. Seek God's guidance as we begin this new chapter at Holy Spirit together. Remember the Church in your daily prayers. Join with your community for prayer on Sunday and during our weekday worship opportunities.

2. Care. Continue to shower one another with God's love. Take the initiative to reach out to those who are hurting or in need of a hand up. Be the hands of Christ in the world today.

3. Proclaim. With our every word and deed, proclaim to the world the faith that is in us. Let your life be a testimony to your relationship with God. Be enthusiastic about your community of faith, and invite your neighbors to church.

We are entering an exciting time in our common life together. We can see God moving among us, from glory to glory. Let us seek to move with God, from faith to faith, into the future that has been prepared for us.

In Christ's Love,

Fr. Terry+