27 January 2008 * I Corinthians 1:10-17 – Matthew 4:12-23
The Reverend Kirk Alan Kubicek, Saint Peter’s at
“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the Gospel…”
Curious words indeed to hear in this season of Epiphany, which features as a central feast day The Day of our Lord’s Baptism.
Yet, at times like these it is hard not to simply fall in love with the Lectionary Schedule of Readings for Sunday morning we now call the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). Here we are on the one day of the year that we are called to reconsider who we are, where we are and where we are headed and we get Jesus calling disciples to follow him, and Paul’s take on early parish life in
Which parish life looks very much like life in the Anglican Communion today, not to mention life in every diocese and parish within the world-wide Anglican Communion of independent related-by-parentage churches.
It looks like what we might call, in a word, “party politics.” Which of course is two words. Paul gets word that people in the church in
For instance, I will celebrate the 25th anniversary of my ordination in December. During this quarter of a century I have served under the following bishops: George Hunt, James Winchester Montgomery, Quentin Primo, Frank Griswold, David Leighton, A.Theodore Eastman, Barry Valentine, Charles Longest, Arthur Walmsley, Clarence Coleridge, Jeffery Rowthorn, Robert Ihloff, and John Rabb, not to mention three Presiding Bishops: Ed Browning, Frank Griswold and Katherine Jefferts-Schori. Many is the time I have identified myself as being devoted to Bishop Montgomery way back there in my ordained infancy in Chicago. Yet, thanks to my devotion to Paul’s take on such devotion, I have repeatedly repented of such cultism, refocused on Christ as my Lord and Savior, and on my calling, as Paul says, to proclaim the Gospel – “not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.”
The same dynamic, of course, exists in parishes. We all have a favorite rector, and those of us fortunate enough to be, as the canons of the church so eloquently put it, a “priest in charge of a cure of souls,” are pretty much resigned to the fact that the favorite rector is almost never the current rector – until of course the current rector moves on, at which point the queue moves back one slot, allowing for membership into the Sacred Order of Previously Beloved Rectors!
I have spent some time studying and admiring the lives of previous rectors of Saint Peter’s. So in the current context as much as I would love to identify myself by “I belong to Velasco,” or “I belong to Atlee,” or “I belong to Handwerk or Bell or Matthewes-Greene” or perhaps most of all “I belong to the venerable and always beloved Fr. Maddux,” all of whom I consider beloved previous rectors and role models each in his own way; and as much as I least want anyone to think of themselves as “belonging to Kubicek,” I hope and pray every day for the few minutes I spend in this most beautiful and prayerful of all places I have ever had the privilege of serving, that I am and remain one who belongs only to God in Christ.
That, of course, is precisely what Jesus himself means as he takes up the clarion call of John the Baptist, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Repent means to turn – to turn around or turn back really. The idea being that we all of us all the time get distracted and begin to walk another way, or multiple other ways, than the Way of the Lord. Jesus means to call us all back on point – on message – on target – on God’s Way.
Aligning ourselves with Christ is the only way given to us to cease sitting in darkness and see and participate in the new Light, the great light, of Christ. Which is the importance of the calling of Peter, Andrew, James and John, all of whom have stained glass windows shining down on us as we come to worship and praise God – not that they, to our way of seeing things, miraculously dropped everything and followed Jesus, but that in following Christ they began to live in a new reality, a new creation - life under God’s reign! Just as the only evidence of this new reality for the world was in the lives they lived beyond Christ’s life, death and resurrection, so it is for us: the world will only see this new way of living and being in the world as they experience us in all that we say and all that we do to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ.
That is, to repent means in part to drop the things of the past, get beyond our devotion to beloved and faithful leaders, and move forward with Christ into the already near and coming
By incarnating this season of Epiphany, a season to manifest God’s light in our daily life and conduct, our society, community and the whole world will be confronted with empirical evidence of the reality of a new creation.
Those who contribute to the life of Christ and manifest God’s light in this place include:
Errol and Gavin Elliot and Errol’s crew in the kitchen yesterday
Pat and Ollie Hand who began the kitchen renovation
Tom Hesson for the new organ
Greg Fraser and the Choir for glorious music
Suzonne Sage and her companions for ministry to youth in and beyond the parish
Jennie Boyer who secured a Millenium Goals Grant from the diocese of $12,000 for Itipini
The people of our Altar Guild: Beth McSweeney, Judy Stone, Jane Bergman, Katherine Schnorrenberg, Eric and Lalitha Samuels, Diana Pon, Sharon Sachs
Eric Samuel and the dozen or so people who represent us at PATH (People Acting Together in Howard)
Our Evangelism team of Beth McSweeney, Katherine Schnorrenberg, Guv Mitchell and Tom Hesson who distributed hundred of leaflets in the neighborhood to announce the times of our Christmas services
Those who serve week in and week out at the Altar and as Ushers
Those who count the offering and prepare the deposit each week
Deena Cate and her companions for making the church beautiful
Angela Mitchell, Anne Pounder, The McSweeneys, Katherine Schnorrenberg for hosting the hospitality of literally feeding us week in and week out and at special events
Katherine and Tom and Mary Maruguerite for their devotion to our Youth
The young people of our Youth Group themselves who do so much for Saint Peter's and those in need
Anne Pounder and her dedicated volunteers who operate our Vacation Bible School
Katie, Debra, Katherine, Anne, Denise, Tracey and all who educate our young people in the way of Christ.
Bev Foster and now Brenda Brewington and a new host of volunteers (Annette, Gloria, Tracey, Mina, Janet) who do heavy lifting in the office
Phil Shaw who keeps us informed and connected on a day to day basis
Our officers, Our Vestry
Robin Fleegal and the teachers in our fantastic church school
Alexa Fair and Katie Shaw who help with book keeping
John Francis who is faithful in keeping track of our finances which, despite how it feels, are bountiful and powerful in the ministry it empowers to happen
Mary Marguerite and Gina who bring a spirit and energy to the life of our community that grounds us in Christ and the mission to which He calls us, and so ably and faithfully help me to see new ways of looking at things
My family, Harper, Kirk Alan, Cerny, Lucky the dog, and most of all Mallory without whom I would not be standing here …
These are just some of the people here at Saint Peter’s who proclaim the Good News of Jesus week in and week out, day in and day out. To remind ourselves of just what this Good News is, and who we are called to be and what we are called to do, we are directed by both the Catechism and Baptismal Covenant in our Book of Common Prayer.
Turning to page 855 in The Book of Common Prayer, and as we prepare ourselves to meet together, let us review The Mission of the Church, and the Ministry we all share as Baptized Lay Persons:
An Outline of the Faith: The Catechism BCP 855-856
The Church
Q. What is the mission of the Church?
A. The mission of the Church is to restore all people to
unity with God and each other in Christ.
Q. How does the Church pursue its mission?
A. The Church pursues its mission as it prays and
worships, proclaims the Gospel, and promotes justice,
peace, and love.
Q. Through whom does the Church carry out its mission?
A. The Church carries out its mission through the ministry
of all its members.
The Ministry
Q. Who are the ministers of the Church?
A. The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops,
priests, and deacons.
Q. What is the ministry of the laity?
A. The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his
Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be
and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on
Christ’s work of reconciliation in the world; and to take
their place in the life, worship, and governance of the
Church.
Q. What is the duty of all Christians?
A. The duty of all Christians is to follow Christ; to come
together week by week for corporate worship; and to
work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of
God.
One might say this is our job description – a job description shared by all persons, lay or ordained. We are a people called to work for unity, justice and reconciliation. We are not perfected in this calling of ours – many times I feel the least capable of living such a life as it is described here. Only with your support, the support of a community of the baptized, do I even have a chance of living into this new life of working, praying and giving for the spread of the
At this point I would ask us all to sit in silence to review the Annual Report, giving special attention to the Nominating statements of the four persons who have offered to be elected to our vestry. We will vote for three of them later this morning. All four would be an asset to the life of our community, but for now our bylaws only allow us to elect three. Use this silence also as a time of prayer and meditation to discern the ways in which God may already be calling you to a new life of ministry in his Body, the Church as it is articulated as our job description in our Catechism. Then I will call us back together to sum up my remarks for the day and lead us in renewing our Baptismal Covenant.
I believe Saint Peter’s is on the verge of a profound new journey of renewal and growth. I am in my fourteenth year as rector of this remarkable and historic parish. I honestly can say I love this parish and its history – I have met the children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews of the man who literally built this church with his own hands, his own heart and his own soul. Yet, I do not hear God calling us to relive any of our history, but rather to honor it and learn from it, just as
I can also honestly say I love every individual in this parish, past and present, and I love the sense of Christ’s presence mediated in our very midst by the company of everyone who calls Saint Peter’s his or her spiritual home.
Although, as our welcoming statement in our weekly bulletin puts it best, I confess to not being perfected in this love, I want to become more fully loving, and welcome into our community all who wish to join us in this endeavor.
Jesus calls us today and every day to join with him in proclaiming the good news of God’s kingdom, and to Feed, Heal and Reach Out to all people in his name. May we, as we pray, answer readily his call, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works. I know with his call, his ministry of reconciliation, and his love as our central focus, all things shall be well.
Amen.
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