Pentecost 22, Year C
The Rev. Vicki K.
Hesse,
Director of the
Whitaker Institute,
Episcopal Diocese of
Michigan
Sermon for October 6, 2019
Preached at St. Andrew’s
Episcopal Church, Waterford, MI
Text
here
May the words of my
mouth
and the meditation of
all our hearts
be acceptable to you,
O Lord, our strength
and our redeemer. Amen
Good morning, St. Andrew’s!
My name is The Rev.
Vicki Hesse
and I serve as the
Director of the Whitaker Institute,
the educational arm of
the Diocese.
“The Whitaker
Institute activates lifelong learning!
We are the
educational arm of the Bishop’s office
and our purpose is
to educate, equip and empower
faith communities
with fresh ways of
learning.”
Which is a lot to say
in one breath!
Who here has taken a
course from the Whitaker Institute?
Our three main programs are
the Academy for
Vocational Leadership
(at which Priest
Jonathan is the Theology and Ethics Mentor)
Exploring Your
Spiritual Journey, and Safe Church.
There are many others;
perhaps y’all can join me
at the Adult Forum
today to learn more.
Now let us turn to the gospel message today.
How many of you are
Downton Abbey fans?
Just a few weeks ago,
the movie version of
this popular TV series was released.
Placed in England, in
pre-WWI,
the Abbey of Downton profiles
a family
who struggle with their
place in things.
We see their lives unfold
as the characters experience
personal pain, anguish,
joy and sacrifice.
These images from the upstairs
family and
the downstairs staff
and servers
invite us to recognize
how
we all experience the
same human condition.
In the film, the King and Queen visit Downton
Abbey
during tough times.
The family has already had to cut back on staff
and servants.
Revolving around this royal visit, the film reunites
Revolving around this royal visit, the film reunites
characters from the TV show as
the Downton staff work themselves into a tizzy
getting ready for the royal visit.
There is drama in the house, and in the air:
The world is in disarray,
depression looms and
a World War has ended.
When Lady Mary muses out loud to her personal
maid
about whether she should say goodbye to it all
and leave for a new life,
Anna Bates, Lady Mary’s loyal maid,
snaps back about
the ordinary and important role
that Downton plays
for the wider community –
that small local English village.
Anna says to Mary,
‘Downton
Abbey is the heart of this community
and
you’re keeping it beating!’
I
think that Mary’s musing
points
to her sense of inadequacy
in
the face of “it all.”
Anna
reminded Mary of Mary’s stewardship
for
“this place” to sustain not only
the
house and occupants
but
also the English village –
the
community in which it is placed.
~~
~~
And if we turn the
clock back 1900 years prior,
our gospel text glimpses
the disciples’
sense of inadequacies
in the face of “it
all.”
“It
all,” being little things like
finding
lost items or lost brothers, or
not
putting up stumbling blocks
and
big things like
forgiving anyone who
sins against you,
seeing and serving
people who are
poor and suffering
right in your
midst,
restoring the saltiness
of your faith.
No wonder they feel
insufficient.
As they try to imagine
accomplishing
any of what Jesus asks
of them,
they ask for more
faith.
~~ ~~
And after the week we
have just had –
I suspect that many of
us
feel the same way:
inadequate to face what
Jesus asks of us.
We, too, ask for more
faith, just to get by,
let alone make a
modicum of difference in the world.
But there is a twist
(as often the case.)
When the disciples
recognize their need and ask for help,
we think that Jesus
would
comfort them, re-assure
them, and grant their request.
But he doesn’t!
Instead, Jesus seems to
scold them.
“If you had even a hint
of faith…”
He implies that their
faith isn’t even as big
as that tiniest of
mustard seeds.
I mean, really,
is that any way to
respond
to the disciples
in their authentic plea
for help?
So what do you think they were “really” asking
for?
What if the question
the
disciples ask
is the wrong
question?
Perhaps Jesus’ snap
back
was just
the
cold-water-in-the-face they needed
(maybe that’s what we
need?)
to reset their inner
compass
to the inconceivably
awesome presence of God
already around them,
and
the absolutely
sufficient faith they already have.
When Jesus offers the
story of the slaves,
he tells them of
the ordinary role that
faith plays.
See,
“…servants were not
invited to the table with the landowner;
they ate when their
work was done.
Nor do the servants
deserve great thanks
simply for doing their
job; they just do it. [6]”
That’s the faith you
have.
That’s the faith you
need.
Simply the willingness
to do what needs to be done.
Simply the hard work of
faith:
·
Big proclamations and little mentions of faith.
·
Heroic rescues and daily smiles.
·
Feeding five thousands and offering a sandwich.
Jesus tells the
disciples, “faith is a verb” –
it’s the heart of your lives and Jesus is keeping it beating!
That ordinary
faith-work is
what Jesus has already shown
the disciples
in several instances:[7]
·
With the confidence of the woman who
believes,
o
if she only touches him there will be healing (3:48),
·
In a centurion’s concern for a sick servant
(7:9),
·
And in a woman’s gratitude at being forgiven
(7:50).
Perhaps Jesus’
cold-water response
should not surprise us.
Jesus reframes their
request
by showing them an
ordinary scene:
one that was played out
daily
in the hard work and
service of the servant
doing the servant’s
job.
See,
Faith is not found only
in mighty acts of heaven;
it is found in:
·
the daily and near-invisible acts of getting
life done.
·
responding to what and who shows up in front of
us
·
caring for the people we meet along the way.
“Faith is not just a
matter of your own strength,”
Jesus is saying,
“it’s the Lord’s doing!
You have faith, because
you have me.”
What if Jesus is
telling us
that
in light of what we
experience in the world,
we are to go forth with
our lives and do faith.
Do the loving,
forgiving, caring things.
Right here. Right now.
As ordinary as they might seem.
Theologian Debie Thomas
said,
“Faith isn't
fireworks; it's not meant to dazzle.
Faith is simply
recognizing our tiny place
in relation to God's enormous, creative
love,
and then
filling that place with our whole
lives.
Faith is duty, motivated
and sustained by love.”[8]
Do you believe this?
Do you realize, Jesus
would call your near-invisible acts, faith?
What are those?
·
Showing up for your grandchildren.
·
Doing a good job at work.
·
Answering the phone, listening to your friend.
·
Voting. Even when the field of candidates seems
discouraging.
·
Praying for your neighbor. Even when they don’t
know it.
And as I read on your website,
you “don’t just
attend a Sunday service,
you live your
faith inside and outside the church.”
·
Collecting food and blankets
o
for Oakland County Pet Adoption Center.
·
Hosting & assisting with the O.A.T.S annual
holiday party.
·
Participating in and collecting donations for
Crop Walk.
·
Collecting water and helping with
o
St. Andrew’s Flint homeless ministry.
All of them are acts of
faith, for
Love is one thing
that only grows when it is given away.
When we read the paper
and turn our attention
to ‘breaking news,’
it can seem like there
is no hope.
Yet all around us are
signs
of hope, of God’s inconceivably miraculous presence
in love and
care for the world,
in the simple,
ordinary, even mundane acts of faith
that you are
doing already.
St. Andrews:
Despite how it may
feel,
you are totally enough.
Your faith is enough.
And God’s unconditional love
frees
us to “faith” with grace.
Because God’s love endures for
ever.
Because God’s love is stronger
than death.
Because nothing, “…neither
death, nor life, nor angels,
nor rulers, …, nor powers, …,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ
Jesus our Lord.”[9]
God loves for who you
are in your ordinary humanness,
as your faith shines light
in the world
and sparks others to do
so, too.
Jesus tells you, today:
your faith is that verb –
Your faith is the heart of your lives
and Jesus is keeping it beating!
Amen
[6] Inspired by
David J. Lose at http://www.davidlose.net/2016/09/pentecost-20-c-every-day-acts-of-faith/ on October 2, 2019
