A Sermon of The Rev. Dr. David A. Killian, Rector
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
January 31, 2010
Jeremiah 1:4-10; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30
I
This past year I have been reflecting with you about the three aspects of our spiritual journey: our journey inward – as we go deeper in our personal relationship with God; our journey together – as we nurture one another in our life of faith; and our journey outward – as we alleviate the pain and suffering of the world and bring healing and hope to others.
Today's scripture readings shed light on these three journeys. In the Gospel, Jesus quotes the proverb, "Doctor, cure yourself." This proverb tells us to attend to our own spiritual condition before we attend to the needs of others. Each of us walks a unique spiritual path. Each of has a unique relationship with God. You can't live my relationship with God, nor can I live yours. Only you can make your unique response to the Creator. If I do not attend to my personal relationship with God, who will?
In our worship service today, we have some examples of people attending to their personal relationship with God. The Journeys candidates are exploring whether God is calling them to baptism, confirmation, or reception into the Episcopal Church. As they come forward to express their commitment to discern the next step in their life of faith, we pledge our blessing and support.
Two members of our parish, Meghan Kirtland and Tim Trussell-Smith, wish to discern whether God is calling them to ordained ministry. They will attend the diocesan discernment conference at the cathedral on Saturday and in the coming months they will meet with their discernment committees to explore whether they are called to ordained service in the Church.
Like Meghan, Tim, and the Journeys candidates, each of us is on a spiritual path. Each of us is called to a life of love and service. Each of us needs to discern what God wants for us. Only you can make your unique response to God. This is your spiritual journey.
One major way that we express our response to God is in Sunday worship. This week I was talking to a woman who told me that no matter how busy her week had been and how distracted she may have felt, she goes to church on Sunday to keep her life in order. "I always feel better when I come out of church," she said. "I put my problems in perspective and I get strength to handle whatever will be tossed at me during the week. It's like an inoculation against the problems that I will face." Do you feel that way about Sunday worship? In worship we renew our connection with the Creator of the universe and with our fellow human beings. In worship we move forward on our spiritual journey.
II
Secondly, we journey together and nurture one another in our life of faith. From our earliest years, we have needed the support of others to progress in our path to God. In the first reading, Jeremiah says, "I am only a boy." He is aware of his limitations and weaknesses; yet God calls Jeremiah to move from fear to courage so that he can become a prophet and leader of the Israelites. St. Paul, in the reading from Corinthians, says, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways." Each of us is called to grow into the full stature of mature followers of Christ – and to do that we need the support and help of others.
Here at All Saints we support each other in our spiritual quest in the Journeys in Faith class, the Bible Study group, the Men's Group, the Women's Book Group, Women of Wisdom, and the Wednesday Lenten program. Most importantly, we help one another grow in our life of faith by worshipping together.
III
Lastly, I want to talk about our journey outward to alleviate pain and suffering in the world and to bring healing and hope to others. When Jesus challenged the people of his home synagogue in Nazareth to follow Isaiah's teaching about bringing good news to the poor, they rose in opposition. They wanted Jesus to perform wonders in their home town; they didn't accept his challenge to go beyond their boundaries to serve others. Jesus pointed to the examples of the widow of Zarephath in Sidon and Naaman the Syrian to show that God's mercy extends beyond one's own community.
Our personal spiritual journey – as important as it is – and our journey together in this community – as essential as that is – must lead outward to serve the needs of those outside All Saints Parish. Many of you have already responded to the needs in Haiti and have contributed to provide food, water, shelter, and medications for the people devastated by the earthquake. We will need to provide this support for Haiti for many years.
Several of you prepare start-up baskets for families leaving shelters or serve meals for the homeless or visit prisoners at the pre-release center in Roslindale. Some of you build homes with Habitat for Humanity or bring food for the Brookline Food Pantry or tutor inner-city youth in the Lenox Learn program at St. Augustine and St. Martin Church in Roxbury or visit the elderly at the Goddard House nursing home in Jamaica Plain.
Today at our Annual Meeting, immediately following this service, we will hear about other ways to reach out to those in need in our community and around the world. These efforts embody St. Paul's message of love. When our personal and communal journeys flow into the journey outward, then we truly express the love of Christ. "Faith, hope and love abide," Paul tells us, "and the greatest of these is love."
Amen.