Month: February 2024

The ark of Christ’s Church

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Sermon for February 18, 2024

The First Sunday of Lent

Readings:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=lcuuFfjs8O8%3Fsi%3D0tC1V8U1LVZoa6av%26start%3D1694

I have here the first prayer book I ever bought. I bought this at the gift shop in one of the Oxford University colleges when I was a student there one summer and I have had it with me ever since. I even have some of the flowers pressed here that were growing outside of the Exeter College chapel. This is the 1662 version of the Book of Common Prayer, not the version we use here in this church, but this is still the official Book of Common Prayer in the Church of England, although many of their churches nowadays use more modern, alternate rites. Regardless of how often it is regularly used anymore in worship, it is still one of the most important books in the English language, right alongside the King James Version of the bible. Some of us have been reading a book on the history of the Book of Common Prayer, so I have been looking through this version again and remembering how wonderful it really is. 

There is one prayer, that is a part of the baptism service that I want you to hear this morning:

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who of thy great mercy didst save Noah and his family in the ark from perishing by water; and also didst safely lead the children of Israel thy people through the Red Sea, figuring thereby thy holy Baptism; and by the Baptism of thy well-beloved Son Jesus Christ, in the river Jordan, didst sanctify Water to the mystical washing away of sin: We beseech thee, for thine infinite mercies, that thou wilt mercifully look upon this Child; wash him and sanctify him with the Holy Ghost; that he, being delivered from thy wrath, may be received into the ark of Christ’s Church; and being stedfast in faith, joyful through hope, and rooted in charity, may so pass the waves of this troublesome world, that finally he may come to the land of everlasting life, there to reign with thee world without end, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I have to say, there are many wonderful prayers in our 1979 Book of Common Prayer, but nothing in our modern baptismal rite has improved upon that prayer right there. Listen to it again, this time we will make the baby a girl:

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who of thy great mercy didst save Noah and his family in the ark from perishing by water; and also didst safely lead the children of Israel thy people through the Red Sea, figuring thereby thy holy Baptism; and by the Baptism of thy well-beloved Son Jesus Christ, in the river Jordan, didst sanctify Water to the mystical washing away of sin: We beseech thee, for thine infinite mercies, that thou wilt mercifully look upon this Child; wash her and sanctify her with the Holy Ghost; that she, being delivered from thy wrath, may be received into the ark of Christ’s Church; and being stedfast in faith, joyful through hope, and rooted in charity, may so pass the waves of this troublesome world, that finally she may come to the land of everlasting life, there to reign with thee world without end, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

There is so much wonderful imagery in that prayer. Praying that the child may be “received into the ark of Christ’s Church.” And the marvelous line which follows: being stedfast in faith, joyful through hope, and rooted in charity, may so pass the waves of this troublesome world. 

Passing the waves of this troublesome world. I have a new aspiration in life. That is going to be my new motto. To be steadfast in faith, joyful through hope, and rooted in charity that I may so pass the waves of this troublesome world. It is a beautiful aspiration, but I know, and I suspect most of you know, that it isn’t always easy. Faith, hope, and charity can be hard to hold on to at times. You look around and see so much of the world drowning in despair, drowning in this troublesome world, not passing over the waves. We are tempted every day to give up on faith, hope and charity. We are tempted to see them as antiquated, quaint, inefficient, naïve, a waste of time. We are tempted by the waves of this troublesome world, we are tempted to believe that we are destined to sink. We are tempted to believe that God isn’t there, or we are tempted to believe that God doesn’t care. We are tempted to abandon God or we are tempted to believe that God has abandoned us. We are tempted to turn away from God. But this temptation is nothing new. God’s people are always tempted. God’s people are always tested. Sometimes we fail. But God never does.

Today is the First Sunday in Lent, and on this Sunday we always hear the gospel story of Jesus being tempted in the desert. Well we are tempted too. We are tempted to forget who our God is. We are tempted to forget who we really belong to. We are tempted to forget our God’s love AND to forget our God’s power. Worst of all, we are tempted to believe that we must, and that we can, save ourselves. We are tempted to forget the good news. 

Jesus’s mission is not only to tell people the good news about this coming kingdom of God, but also to make a way for them to be a part of it. God doesn’t just teach us through Jesus Christ; God saves us. That is what our God does. Our God is always trying to make a way for us to get back to him. God may give us a boat, or God may split the sea, but God will make a way. I think one of the reasons that I love that prayer so much that I was just quoting is that it says not just to the child being baptized, but to all the baptized, that you belong to a God who saves. The God who saved Noah, the God who saved the children of Israel, the God of Jesus who rose from the dead, that is your God, that is who you belong to. Nothing in this troublesome world is more important than that. That is a powerful prayer right there. That is a powerful image. The image of an ark.

The church isn’t a pleasure cruise; it’s not a warship; it’s an ark that is carrying precious cargo to a new world and there is always room on board for more. Take a moment, if you will and look up. Look at the roof over your heads. Ignore any dust, cobwebs, or peeling paint please and just look at the architecture of this roof. It kind of looks like a boat turned upside down over your heads doesn’t it? Use your imagination for a second. The top of the roof could almost be a keel couldn’t it? Well this part of the church out here is called the nave and it comes from the latin word for ship. The church is a ship. The church is an ark. God brings us through rough and stormy waters, through the waters of death, into a new life to reign with him. 

It never ceases to amaze me how one little prayer can say so much. Prayers like that are so wonderful, because when I am tempted to despair about the world I am sailing through, I read that prayer and I am reminded not only of who my God is, but I am reminded of who I am too and where I am headed. 

Inviting all preachers…

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Dear Fellow Preachers,

My companion website to Inwardly Digest, The Pulpiteer, will be beginning a special program next month called Preaching Companions. Preachers who wish to participate will be invited to send a video of a sermon that they have preached recently to the Pulpiteer. Sermon links or video files must be received by March 8th. The videos will then be compiled and sent out to all participants. The participants will then gather via zoom on March 19th to offer each other feed back. Please see below for further guidelines.

  • Participants will select one sermon that they have given from the previous month. After the first of the month they will send us a link to a video of this sermon. At the end of the first week of the month The Pulpiteer will compose an email that consists of links to all of the videos and send this out to the group. On the last week of the month we will have a scheduled zoom call and offer each person constructive feedback on their sermon.
  •  It is not necessary for each person to participate every month, however, out of consideration for everyone’s time if you submit a sermon for the group to watch, it is expected you will be present for the zoom call. If you can’t make the call at the end of the month, then please don’t submit a sermon that month.
  • Sermons may come from any context (Sunday morning, midweek, weddings, funerals, major feasts, etc.) but participants in the zoom call should submit a sermon of some sort and should indicate in some way what scripture readings were offered during the service. Ordinarily, everyone who is present to offer critique should also be receiving critique. This is meant to be a group for mutual support (and mutual vulnerability) and therefore everyone participating will need to be open to giving AND receiving feedback.
  • Participants should be committed to Christian orthodoxy, broadly speaking. While there is ample room for diversity and disagreement on biblical interpretations and styles of churchmanship, basic creedal Christianity is expected to be the norm. Participants are reminded that in their ordinations they affirmed their belief in the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God and committed themselves to uphold the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Episcopal Church. Sermons should reflect these commitments even when trying to advocate for change or reform. Clergy from other Christian denominations are welcomed to participate; however the same commitment to a broad creedal orthodoxy is expected.
  • Feedback will be offered by participants both on content and style. For this reason, videos of sermons are preferred. Participants must be committed to offering critique that is constructive and to being respectful of their fellow preachers. All of us, at one time or another, have delivered a sermon that simply didn’t hit the mark. Humility and respect both in giving and receiving feedback is essential.
  • Arguments about pronouns and Divine gender are to be avoided. We respect that preachers will be preaching to different congregations in different contexts. Arguing about pronouns for God is rarely helpful and does not always take into account these local contexts. Plus, there are many ways that a preacher can broaden a congregation’s understanding of God rather than simply referring to God as “she.” Simply stated let’s not spend too much time here and respect a preacher’s choice to use what works for them in their context.

Finally, preachers are encouraged to submit “hits” as well as “misses.” In other words, don’t just submit your best sermons, but also submit sermons that just didn’t go quite the way you wanted or hoped. We are all here to grow and improve and not just to congratulate each other!

Our first zoom gathering will be on Tuesday, March 19 at 11:00am.

If you are thinking of something to do for your own spiritual and professional growth this Lent, why not consider joining us? For more information and to register, please visit thepulpiteer.org