Peter M. Carey
5 June 2011 Sermon ~ John 17-11
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood, VA
In the Diocese of Virginia
Today we gather as we do every Sunday to give thanks. We give thanks for all the things that God has given us, and we offer to God a bit of the blessings that we have received in order to glorify God.
When we break bread and drink wine together, we remember and we ‘re-enact’ what God has done for us in creation, in his redemption of the world through His Son Jesus Christ, and also in his sending of the Spirit of sanctification to lead us and guide us.
In today’s gospel from John, Jesus offers up a prayer to God on behalf of the people that he is leaving behind, as he ascends to the Father. On their behalf (and our behalf), he asks God to protect them (and us), and he asks God to make them (and us) “one” “as we are one.” Here in this short line at the end of the reading, Jesus intercedes on our behalf and asks for the great powers of God to enter into the world and make us one. How radical is this prayer? How impossible it might seem. Have you experienced one-ness? Perhaps in the early days of a team forming around a project, or a goal, or a contest. Perhaps you have experienced one-ness. Perhaps when a plan is completed, perhaps when the game is one, the contract is signed, the class is completed, the art project is displayed, the concert is given, the play is performed. It is this oneness that God desires with us, and desires us to be one, as Jesus and the Father are one.
The feelings and signs of oneness that we experience in this life, as rich as they are, are solely a partial and temporary sign of the oneness that is promised by God. The peace we experience in this plane is but a portion of the “peace which passes all understanding” with God. That said, these signs of oneness and peace and connectedness are blessings nonetheless.
As I think about my own life, there are many times of oneness both in my past an my present, which bolster my own steps into an uncertain future. When I was about 12, my family developed a tradition after concert band performances that we’d go to the drive-in A&W for dinner. We would pull up to the A&W and order hot dogs, hamburgers, and finish it off with an A&W float. These were the days when A&Ws were not tied up with Long John Silvers, and when the waitresses would come to your car window, take your order and hang the tray on my dad’s window with the food piled up on it. These dinners were dinners of celebration for a job well done in band, but also were celebrations that were Eucharistic in their essence. Breaking bread (or French fries) and enjoying one another’s company as we were deeply thankful for all that we had.
When the church is at its best, we offer places for oneness and connection, even between those who might not necessarily be team-mates, colleagues or comrades in other settings. When the church is at its best, we not only proclaim the gospel, and encourage each other to “love our neighbor as ourselves,” but also model this behavior, and also create opportunities where we can reach out to one another, and we can also get to know one another at a deeper level than the small-talk and shallow-talk that can dominate many other contexts. I sometimes wonder how we can do this even better, and pray that God will show us ways to seek oneness and connection.
As the great song goes, “we gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing,” and this is what we strive to do each Sunday here at Emmanuel. As we gather, many many hands go into this service’s preparation. Chuck and I often receive the blessings of your comments after the service, and it is a blessing indeed. However, there are many many people who gather to create this opportunity to praise, and give thanks, and ask the Lord’s blessing. From the Altar Guild to the Ushers and Greeters, to the Readers who read our lessons, to the Lay Eucharistic Ministers who distribute communion, to the Children’s Worship Leaders and Sunday School Teachers, to the Flower Guild who creates these wonderful creations, borrowed from God’s own creation, to Larry and the Choir who help us to sing praises, to Janice who helps to coordinate behind the scenes and to the Coffee Hour hosts and so many others.
Today, we also recognize and offer up hearty Thanksgiving for another group of individuals who help us to worship. Before each service, the clergy, the vested LEM and this group of people gather in the vesting room for prayer. My prayer that I offer often begins, “God, help us to lead your people in worship,” for what these young people do is to help us to properly attune ourselves to God, so that we might experience God’s oneness with us, as we experience oneness with one another. Today, we offer up special thanksgivings for the work of Nicholas Elliot, who has served as lead acolyte for the last year, and who has done this with a high level of professionalism, care, and compassion. He utilized his gifts of the Spirit as he modeled the right way to be an acolyte, and he utilized his gifts of communication and coordination as he herded so many younger acolytes. Thank you Nicholas!
Today, we also offer up special thanksgivings for Jake Farrell, who will be serving as lead acolyte for the next year. He is blessed with many gifts, and we are so glad that he is willing to offer some of them to us as we lead a large and wonderful group of dedicated acolytes. Jake will forge his own way through this leadership, and I am thrilled to have his presence with us in this way.
Lastly, I want to recognize two individuals who work behind the scenes to create a culture of belonging, gratitude, oneness and JOY among the acolytes, and they are our Acolyte Directors, Mr. Dan Butterfield and Mr. Allen Cunningham. They do not step out in front very often, but we are so incredibly blessed with their leadership, care, creativity, and presence with us. Please thank them when you get a chance; they do incredibly important ministry here.
And so, today we gather as we do on every other Sunday to give thanks. We give thanks for all the things that God has given us, and we offer to God a bit of the blessings that we have received in order to glorify God. And, in the midst of this gathering, we pray that God might show us signs today of the oneness that is promised to us by God. We pray that God might inspire each of us here gathered as we offer up praise to God, and as we seek to reach out to one another.
