Elevation Sunday
A sermon by the Rev. Wallace Adams-Riley
Rector, St. Paul's Episcopal Church
March 14, 2010 - Elevation Sunday
Listen to the Sermon
Sermon Text
Dear God, take my lips and speak through them,
Take our minds, and think through them,
Take our hearts, and fill them with your love. Amen.
+
Who are we?
We come, and we kneel before God, week in, week out; and we bring many questions, many questions, none more essential than, "Who are we?"
+
Who are we?
We forget. We forget, inevitably; and we must be reminded.
We want to be reminded. We want to remember: who we are.
+
Are we, are we, the son, the daughter, who has squandered, who has lived dissolutely?
Have we been on a bender? Have we wandered in a distant land?
Have we been lost; and have we lost ourselves?
Is that who we are?
+
Or, or, are we the one who has been good?
Have we stuck close to home, behaving all the while? Working hard, doing what we're supposed to do?
Have we been the good one?
Is that who we are?
+
Or, or, are we the one running down the road, running, running down Grace Street? Are we the father, the mother, so full of compassion, that we won't wait, so full that we can't wait? compelled to go out, and meet the one who has been lost? And, with heart brimming, flushed with joy, we call for the robe, the best one, and a ring, and sandals, and the fatted calf?
Is that who we are?
+
Yes. That's the answer. Yes.
Yes, of course we are.
We are the prodigal son, the prodigal daughter. And, yes, we are the older, good brother; the good sister. And, yes, we are the loving mother, the compassionate father, with love spilling over in eager abundance, wonderfully eager abundance.
We see ourselves (if the eyes of our heart are open) we see ourselves, in all three, the broken son, the righteous daughter, the compassionate parent, just as, surely, our Lord meant for us to.
That said, (again, surely as Lord anticipated,) there are some Sundays, some moments, some seasons of our lives, where we identify with one more than the other.
+
As a community, as St. Paul's Church, we have seen ourselves as that mother, that father, going out into the world in eagerness to share the compassion of God. And we have done so; St. Paul's Church has done so, for generations. It is in our DNA. It is who we are.
We share the compassion, the love, of God, and we are known for it; and we mean to be known for it, as a witness to Richmond, to the Commonwealth, and, for that matter, to the world; a witness to the radical love of God: Putting food in empty stomachs. Reading with at-risk children. Showing solidarity with victims of discrimination and injustice. Sending teams to a small African village. Sending help to Port-au-Prince. We reach out in compassion; in these, and in many other ways; we reach out, in the name of justice and mercy and kindness. In the name of the love of God.
+
When our patron, St. Paul, says that God has "entrust[ed] the message of reconciliation to us," when Paul says, "we are ambassadors for Christ," when he says, "God is making his appeal through us," we hear him singing our song. We hear our patron answering for us, the question, who are you?
+
Who are we? Who is St. Paul's Church?
We are ambassadors for Christ. We take the love of God, the compassion of God, out into the world, as Christ commanded us to.
Yes, we do. By the power of the Spirit of God, yes, we do; just as God would have us do.
And, by the power of the Spirit of God, that is what we will continue to do. Yes, we will.
+
And, yet, we, we, as a people, we, St. Paul's Church, have heard God whispering another song in our hearts of late. And God's saying, don't forget the good ol' song you've been singing all along, St. Paul's Church, about sharing the love of God with the world; but, I, God, have other songs; and I want you to know those too. And there's one song in particular, St. Paul's Church, that I have in mind for you; that I have on my heart for you. And I need you, I want you, God says, to sing that song as well. Yes, keep singing, and living, the song of God's compassion for the world; yes, but, St. Paul's Church, I've got another song that I also want you to know: the song of loving community. The song of loving one another. The song of knowing and loving and belonging to one another. Yes, you've known that song, and you've sung it, but I want you to sing it like you never have before.
+
Yes, God has spoken to us, very clearly and lovingly. This new, or renewed, word for St. Paul's is, yes, community, our community. It is what the Spirit said as you were preparing to call a new rector, and it is what the Spirit confirmed through our visioning movement this fall; Such Great Heights. While we will continue reaching out to the world in all sorts of ways, in compassion, in mercy, in generosity, we have been called to give renewed attention to what we share among ourselves, in this community of ours called St. Paul's Church.
And, so, we prepare to move into action now, with what we are calling "Elevation."
+
"Elevation" is the first stage in a series of stages. ("Elevation 2.0" and "Elevation 3.0" will come later.) Through "Elevation," we will begin to implement the vision that, by the power of the Spirit, God has given us. "Elevation" lays out a range of action plans for the remainder of the year 2010, and, yes, the great driving theme is community, our community.
We are highlighting, in particular, "Welcoming Ministries," "Pastoral Care Ministries," and "Small Group Ministries," all, again, with a tight focus on strengthening and deepening the bonds that we share as members of this community of disciples.
Meanwhile, we wouldn't be St. Paul's, if we weren't also reaching outward; so, meanwhile, as part of "Elevation," we will also be forming up a mission team from St. Paul's, to send out into the residential district that is emerging at our doorstep, here in the heart of the city: a downtown mission team, if you will. We send mission teams abroad, to Tanzania, and elsewhere; and we will send one to Haiti. Well now we will send one right out our front door, to downtown Richmond.
In the parish hall between the 9:00 and 11:15 services today will be an opportunity for you to learn more about and join into these ministries: Welcoming Ministries, Pastoral Care Ministries, Small Group Ministries, and the Downtown Mission Team. While there are many other components to "Elevation," we are holding up these four offerings as primary and important ways for each of us to go one step further, one step higher, if you will, as we live into, and up to, God's calling for us, as a people, as a community, as St. Paul's Church.
+
Who are we?
We are St. Paul's Church.
We are ambassadors for Christ. We are reaching out, in love, in compassion, in kindness, in generosity, to the world.
We are also, we are also a community of fellow disciples, who are called deeper into loving community together; a family, a family of God's children, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, who are called to love one another, just as the father (in the parable) loved both his sons, just as the father loved both his sons all along, and through all things; and they him; and just as, just as Christ loved, and loves us.
+
As Jesus said, "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples: if you have love for one another."
+
My friends, my brothers, my sisters, my family, Beloved, yes, Beloved:
Jesus gave us a new command; he's given us a new song to add to our repertoire, and he longs for us to sing it, and to sing it with all our hearts.
So, let us love one another. Let us love one another as he loves us.
