Homily by the Reverend Mitzi Noble
Prayer
O, God of grace and mercy, you are the source of all love and relationship. You created us for relationship, called us your people forever, granted us wisdom and freedom of choice. We believe that you came among us as Jesus Christ and commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves. You sent your very power to guide us through the Holy Spirit. We understand that we are Christ's Body in this world serving, working, caring for our brothers and sisters, striving to be reconciled to you and each other even through our differences.
We have learned that you taught us to come together, to love and out of many to be One People.
Coming together and seeking answers, not just for our own needs and concerns, but to help others as your Body, the Church at Emmanuel, in our town, nation-indeed, throughout your creation to share our feelings and thoughts, trusting that you are present with us, guiding us, through our dialogue to reconcile within your Church universal.
We long to hear you say at the end of our days on this earth, "Job well done good and faithful servants!" Christ, you called us-- sinners and saints-to be God's witnesses, to bring about the peaceable kingdom. Grant us the patience, gentleness and love, accepting your forgiveness for all of our short comings and trusting that when you return, we may present to you a people, though individually unique, reconciled as One Body.
Now, as we worship and praise you, O God, may we know and feel your presence, 0 Christ, at our Communion, through the Word and Prayers, throughout our coming days, forgive us and walk beside us as you walked with all those be
May we love and honor you and your commands, as you love and accept us. We pray to you O God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Homily
What does the Lord require of us? As I prayed about being with you today, I realized that the only real help I can offer is what I believe.
God works in mysterious ways. Not controlling us, our behavior or our future like operating puppets, but God is with us. I believe that God came among us to teach us how to love and live with each other, being faithful to God's dream for us. Created for relationship-DREAM.
Jesus showed us how to be healers and to love even the unlovable. Jesus' last act before he died was to ask God to forgive us all for we don't know what we are doing. Comfort in that.
We were not left alone to struggle in this world, but just as in the early days God promised to be with Moses as he led his people through the wilderness, God is with us.
The times of wilderness come in every age, and God still leads us to the promised land.
When we read the stories of Moses having direct conversations with God, don't we long for that opportunity? Things we don't understand-why God why? Or, what do you want us to do? How do we get that comfort from the Holy Spirit? Individually, we have moments when we feel the presence of the Spirit with us. I recall my friend laying hands on me and anointing me before surgery, and I truly felt the presence as surgery began. Paul and I have felt that presence many times over the past years.
If we can find ways of coming together in small groups to share how we see things and listen to the others express how they see things, share worship together (as the Lutherans and Episcopalians did nearly 20 years ago between religions), we may find we have more in common than we ever thought. When the head of the African religion of Kumina in Jamaica spoke of God's healing and when she was sick, she would "sing it out"-music was for her pathway to the Divine. As a Christian, I related to that very well.
I always will remember a small group in one of my churches where adults were looking at "Doorways to Christian Growth". One man had to bring his young boy to the meetings. This young boy kept listening to the discussions and finally spoke up and said,
"What is the Holy Spirit?" The child opened true dialogue among us concerning how we understand the way the Holy Spirit works.
From the days of Abraham, Moses and the prophets, the Bible teaches us that God said, "We are God's people and God made a Covenant with us to always be with us." I believe that.
That promise was personified by Jesus, as Christ-Emmanuel-God with us.
Jesus even promised that he would return all that was created to God. Think on this!!
First, Jesus called us to come together, worship God, and in faith to be baptized, with water and the Holy Spirit as ONE People, share the Holy Meal, where he promised to be present, and he promised to send a Comforter.
Now, here comes the Holy Spirit. As we gather together in all our diversities, in good times and bad, we pray for God's help and the Power of God is sent to us as the Holy Spirit.
But, how do we know the Holy Spirit's guidance and comfort?
When we, as Christians or Humanity at large, think we have all the answers, how does God get a Word into our discussions, negotiations, arguments, plans-even to heal us?
To me, the Holy Spirit is like electric current. Electric current arcing as it moves between conductors, gets warmer and stronger. As we share our thoughts, ideas and feelings with each other, the Holy Spirit moves from one to the other. When we are sharing with each other whether praying for healing or guidance, the Holy Spirit moves among us-giving God a chance to work the truth through us.
This is the Church. The world needs the Church: the voice of love, mercy, caring and reconciliation.
In the letter to the Thessalonian Church we read this morning: "for in spite of persecution, you received the Word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit."
Even those "haughty Pharisees recognized in Jesus that he was sincere in teaching the way of God in accordance with truth and did not regard people with partiality."
The Church: we all long for the Church to be a place where everything is peace and joy. We know that God sent Christ to inform us that our role in the Church is to strive for that peaceable kingdom, where everyone is welcome-though we are all different.
But too much comfort can allow us, as the author of the book, "Comfortable Compassion", says, "this can lull us into complacency".
Each one of us probably defines the Church in different ways:
a building built in God's name where we believe God is present,
a gathering place of believers to be made a member of Christ' body in Baptism and to be fed the sacrament of the Holy Meal,
a place where sinners and saints come to receive forgiveness and welcome, a place where we learn about God and our faith and teach others,
a place where people come together to reach out to those in need or a place of healing,
a voice for the voiceless in the world, a beacon of love and hope for the world,
a witness of God's love and mercy, the church is us, all of us together.... the list goes on
What does the Lord require of us here this morning? I believe that Christ would stretch out his arms of love, mercy and healing-Christ would send us forth to offer every gift we have been given to build up the Church's mission.
This is the time for us to be the Church: growing in our praise and worship,
healing our own needs and the needs of others, feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, seeking the truth and peace through our differences,
Paul and I have felt your love over these years, and I do believe we have been brought together to worship, pray, speak honestly to one another, invoke God's presence among us, holding on to Hope no matter the hardship, to heal and be healed, to sincerely allow God to open our hearts and minds to the Divine calling to us individually and as the Church.
We have allowed ourselves to humbly receive the love and call of God in our midst. The Lord said, "Whom, shall I send? All of us have said together in our various ministries, "Here, I am, Lord. Send me." May God be with us this day and always in this place we call Church, and send us into the world as we promised at our Baptism and Confirmation:
Prayer at your Baptism: Almighty God, by water and the Holy Spirit you have bestowed upon these your children the forgiveness of sin, and have raised them to the new life of grace. Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of ioy and wonder in all your works. AMEN.
Almighty God, we thank you that by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ you have overcome sin and brought us to yourself, and that by the sealing of your Holy Spirit you have bound us to your service. Send them forth in the power of the Spirit to perform the service you set before them, through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN. (Pg 418)