Sermon "God's restoration project"

The Rev. Peter M. Carey
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood, VA
18 October 2009 – Sermon
Job – Hebrews - Mark

While in Italy during college, I had the amazing fortune to take a class on Michelangelo taught by one of the main scholars of the Florentine genius. One of a dozen or so highlights of the class was when we were given a private tour of the Sistine Chapel. When I was there, the restoration project was going on and part of the ceiling was covered by a mechanized scaffold in the middle of the ceiling while on one side there was a rather dark and subdued depiction of the Biblical scenes. On the other side of the scaffold, the ceiling glowed with bright color, the figures seemed to pop off the ceiling as if they were sculptures rather than painting. The paintings were a wonder to be seen, and most scholarship on the ceiling had to be revised after experts saw the results of the wonderful (albeit controversial) restoration project.

This theme of restoration moves through our readings today.

Job’s problem looks easy enough to figure out, on the surface, he’s gotten whacked, smacked, and rejected. He’s a blessed man, a man of integrity, and yet he’s gotten beat up. He is angry, and rightfully so. After first responding to his wife (which we discussed two weeks ago) by saying, “should we receive the good at the hand of God and not receive the bad,” he then goes into a long dialogue within himself, with his friends, and finally with God. Job’s problem seems easy enough to figure out, on the surface, but in reality, his problem is that he’s seeing things all wrong. So God responds to him. God speaks from the whirlwind and says that he will answer Job’s questions if Job can prove his worthiness.

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18 October 2009 - Today's sermon, via wordle

Almighty God rested, and so should we!

A Collect for Saturdays

Almighty God, who after the creation of the world rested from all you works and sanctified a day of rest for all your creatures: Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary, and that our rest here upon earth may be a preparation for the eternal rest promised to your people in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

For many of us, Saturday is not a day of Sabbath (rest), but rather a day of rushing around, getting to do lists done, cleaning houses and apartments, doing shopping, catching up from the week. Families have scheduled events for children and adults, sports and arts activities, and all the rest! It can be quite hard to even take a deep breath, but God does provide us rest, and it is up to us to take it. Making time to schedule "open time," "down time," and even "unscheduled time" is so essential in our rapidly paced world. I am reminded that without local, state, and federal protections, we might not have open spaces for parks, likewise, we need to designate time for Sabbath, even amidst our swirling lives and stuffed schedules.

I was recently given the gift of time for Sabbath, retreat, and refreshment along with other clergy at the Diocese of Virginia's conference center at Shrine Mont. I've posted a few pictures from that Sabbath time.

Hoping that we all take time for Sabbath today,

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Anglicans face off in Virginia

...in flag football today...General Theological Seminary vs. Virginia Theological Seminary...

VTS has won this yearly matchup for several years in a row, will today be any different?

Here are some photos from 2006,

Go Fightin' Friars!

Good Luck and have fun!!

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Trust in the slow work of God, Teilhard de Chardin

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you.
Your ideas mature gradually–let them grow,
Let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.
Give our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ

(hat tip to Inward/Outward blog)

I tend to be impatient. I get ahead of myself when I see something that I feel needs to be done, and I can slip into a mode of rushing around to get it done. It is harder for me to wait, to wait upon God, to be patient. Being patient, for me, at times can feel like I am merely stuck - that nothing is happening at all, that there is no motion toward an end. I suppose my impatience happens when I forget the work of the Spirit in our lives, it happens when I forget the work of God's grace ever working, and I forget that "it" doesn't depend on me, alone. But, I know in my heart that when I have the courage to wait and to trust in the slow work of God that my vision becomes clearer and that I see evidence of the Spirit at work, forming something new.

I pray that we all might have the patience that Teilhard de Chardin speaks of in this beautiful poem, recognizing that new life takes time to grow, and that we would do well to "accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete."

Praying for patience, for me, and for you,

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey