Archbishop of Canterbury Reflects on Christian Marriage

On November 19, Archbishop Rowan Williams preached at the Service of Celebration to mark the Diamond Wedding Anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh.

He begins:

Every marriage is an act of faith. When you think about it, the promise to be in the company of the same person for a lifetime is an extraordinary thing to undertake; it is a statement of trust in one another and in the future which can never be free of risk. Another person, however well I think I know him or her, however confident I am about the mutual attraction between us, is still going to be deeply mysterious, beyond my control. Giving away my life to them is quite a step.

Read the whole sermon here.

Thanksgiving Liturgy

This is just a reminder that we will not have a Wednesday evening liturgy this week. However, we will celebrate together on Thanksgiving morning @ 10:00 am in the chapel.

Living an Authentic Life

Today, in our liturgical calendar, we celebrate the life of Edmund, ninth century King of East Anglia. Edmund was born about 840, became king in about 855, and was martyred in 870 at the hands of invading Danes. Apparently, the leaders of the invaders offered Edmund peace on condition that he rule as a vassal king and outlaw the practice of Christianity. Edmund refused this last condition and was killed.

Of course, we have no idea what went through Edmund's mind as he considered his choices. More thank likely, he experienced temptation to sell out so that he could continue to live. He must have debated in his mind, trying to justify compromising for the sake of living. However, Edmund decided that to do so, he would lose his soul. He would no longer live an authentic life. The compromise would be too great.

Isn't this one of the great challenges that all of us face at different times as we walk the spiritual path. How many times in a week, or even in a day, do we face choices that, ultimately, have to do with living authentically or compromising. Each small choice may seem insignificant. However, over time, these little choices add up. Soon, we find that we have left the authentic life that we seek far behind. It reminds me of the words of Jesus, "What does it profit a person if he or she gains the whole world but forfeits his or her soul?"

What does it mean to you to live an authentic life? In what parts of your life do you find yourself living in a less than authentic way? Pray that God would help all of us to remain true to ourselves, to our values, to the Gospel to which we have pledged ourselves so that we can live the way that God intends for us to live - so that we can live authentically!

Peace,
Fr. Greg

Youth Group Writes Thanksgiving Collect

On Sunday evening, members of the Emmanuel Youth Group wrote a Collect for Thanksgiving. We'll use it at our service on Thursday morning.

Almighty God, we thank you for your loving kindness and grace in this season of thanksgiving. Grant us all health and strength to love and care for each other so that we might help to make the world a happier, safer place following in the work and life of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who live and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TOWARD "GREENING" YOUR LIFESTYLE

We have been hearing the "green" word alot lately and more about the climate change crisis. The reason for this is because we now have the evidence that Global Warming is a reality and we can not ignore it any longer. It will continue to be a crisis until we, each one of us and us together, make changes in our lifestyle. We call it a crisis because the changes are happening more rapidly than was originally thought. We are at a turning point in human history. We are at our generations defining challenge and the greatest opportunity because the truth is clear that people cause Global Warming and people must fix it immediately. It is in this light that this past Diocesan Convention passed a resolution encouraging us to participate in making changes which will save our planet. As Christians and disciples we must be leaders, front runners, if you will, to tend and care for God's garden, our earth.
Let us commit to God, our brothers and sisters and especially to the coming generations to make a difference, to be better stewards of God's creation. We must stand together on this issue!
I ask you to adopt the "7 in 7" plan. Make one change each day for 7 days. Change one or more light bulbs to the compact flourescent type, wash some dishes more than using the dishwasher, let the dishes in the dishwasher air dry, don't run the water when you brush your teeth, recycle for sure every day, drive one less day a week if possible, eat meat one less day a week, lower your heat by 1-2%, if you use a plastic water bottle change to a reusable type, buy at least one biodegradable cleaning or paper product. Remember the slogan, "Consume less, Reduce more and Recycle always." Together we can save God's earth.

Bishop's Diocesan Convention Address

Diocesan Convention took place on October 26 and 27. Lil Hargrove was elected to the Congregational Development Commission and I to the Finance Committee. I also served as chair of the Elections Committee.

Bishop Wolf gave her annual address in the context of the Convention Eucharist on Saturday morning. In it, she said,

"Want to know how to fill up our churches? Begin by letting God set your hearts on fire. "Were not our hearts on fire," said the apostles on their way to Emmaus." They knew what it was to be in Jesus' presence even if it took them a little while to figure it out. Has your congregation really known what it means to be in Jesus' company, and to experience your whole life turned upside down? What would you need in order to step out and take a bold leap of faith in your church?" (You can read the entire address here.)

Are our hearts on fire here at Emmanuel? Are we passionate about proclaiming the Gospel. Are we open to God's transforming power? Does the existence of Emmanuel and its people make a tangible, life-changing difference in our world. I'd like to believe that the answer is yes. Lets keep praying for the fire of God's Spirit!

Great sermon by a friend of Emmanuel!

Most of you will remember Geoff Garner, who, along with his family, was a member of Emmanuel for about four years until the Navy took him to Norfolk in 2006. Geoff is now in Iraq for a year tour. He serves as a lay leader at his chapel in Baghdad. On Sunday, he preached the following homily to celebrate All Saints' Day. For a first ever sermon, he did a tremendous job - not that we would expect anything less from Geoff, who tends to be something of a perfectionist.

Here is the sermon:

Daniel 7:17-18, Psalm 149:4-9, Ephesians 1:17-19

Luke 6: 27-29

I am used to writing arguments to deliver to judges and juries, but this is my first attempt at writing a homily. I set about preparing this by going over the readings for today again and again, looking for some common thread. I hoped that something brilliant would come to mind, some series of connections that would lead to an amazing conclusion that would leave you all greatly inspired. I am afraid that I have failed. All I succeeded in doing was spending a week wrestling with a great dilemma. So, all I can do today is share this dilemma with you.

The readings from Daniel and Ephesians were relatively easy to deal with. Daniel shows us that even the lowly attendant – a slave – is capable of giving a divine interpretation to Daniel’s dream. In this interpretation, the slave tells Daniel that kings are only of the earth and therefore ephemeral, but righteous men – or Saints – will inherit the eternal kingdom.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul echoes this by asking God to inspire the people with a great spirit of wisdom and revelation, in hopes that they will become saints and inherit the eternal kingdom. So far, so good.

But Psalm 149 and the gospel of Luke are not so easy. Now, I must admit, I have always had a bit of an issue with the Psalms in general. It seems to me they can be divided into 3 basic categories: psalms of praise, requests for divine intercession, and rallying cries to “open up a can of whoop-ass” on some tribe of enemies. While psalms of praise can be quite lovely (though not really my cup of tea), I have never found much use for the other two types. I never liked the idea of asking God to perform specific acts on my behalf, and I certainly don’t think that God takes sides in wars between his children. So, here I am in war-torn Baghdad, trying to deal with a Psalm that sings of victory, glory, two-edged swords, vengeance, punishment, chains, fetters, and judgment. Honestly, I think that 6 months ago it would have been easier for me to dismiss it as being “another one of those silly Psalms.” But now, I am sometimes tempted to see things a bit differently.

Five days a week I go to the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. We bring in detainees who are clad in pajamas and who are chained and shackled. I know the horrible crimes and atrocities some of them have committed. I admit to having felt righteous and just at the sight of them shuffling in their leg irons. I admit to having felt a powerful rush when someone who attacked our forces or who implanted an IED would get a long prison sentence. These are our enemies, right? And they have done horrible things, right? Isn’t it only just that judgment be passed upon them?

And there was the day 6 weeks or so ago when one of my men got hit by a mortar outside the courthouse. When I was helping to get him to the hospital, when I saw the hole through his arm, when I saw the pain on his face, and when I had his blood on me, I felt ready to pick up a two-edged sword and extract some vengeance. Perhaps Psalm 149 was singing to me then.

And then comes the gospel of Luke. And then comes Christ, setting aside the old law and revealing a new law. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you. Offer your other cheek. Give your shirt to he who steals your coat. And to cap it off – the great commandment: Do to others as you would have them do to you. Now this is something to wrestle with! Yes, it is easy for us to envision Christ doing these things. But it just isn’t realistic for anyone to expect us – ordinary people – to be able to do those things, is it? And particularly not when we are at war? Wouldn’t it be clean and simple if we could use the gospel of Luke for times of peace – for when we are back home – and use Psalm 149 over here, when we’re at war? Or how about using the gospel and its Great Commandment for our comrades (MNFI) and Psalm 149 for our enemies (the insurgents)? Nice and tidy, but probably not what Christ would want us to do, is it?

Now, don’t worry. I’m not going to get into the whole discussion about what does it mean to literally be a Christian soldier. For those of us in uniform – and no doubt for many of you in civvies – that is an issue never far from the mind. And I’ll save my opinion on just-war theory for a conversation over lunch. What I want to do instead is talk for another minute about saints. The significance of All Saints Day in our church is that God is calling all of us to be saints. The slave who interpreted Daniel’s dream was called to be a saint. The early Christians in Ephesus were called to be saints. Each of us are called to be saints.

Someone famous – I forget who it was – said that saints are people through whom the light of God shines. I liked that, and I carried it around with me for years. I liked to think of the saints on stained glass windows who light up when the sun is behind them. I have known people like that, too. People who simply radiate the glory, joy, and love of God. But this analogy is too simple. It does not encompass the capacity for every one of God’s children to be a saint.

I want to suggest another model. Consider that everyone, everywhere is a piece of stained glass in the great windows of God’s cathedral. But without a source of light, those pieces of glass appear dark and dull. They sit there, darkly, awaiting the light that will let loose their capacity for incredible beauty. Perhaps the real saint is not the illuminated piece of glass, but the mirror reflecting the light of God onto the glass. Perhaps being a saint is not so much about being radiant in terms of one’s own splendor, but more about reflecting the love of Christ into the dark corners, lighting up the splendid windows that have never seen that light before.

Can we do that? Can we be saintly enough to reflect God’s love into places that have never known it? I’ll remember to ask myself that tomorrow when I see a potential saint shuffle into the courthouse, chained and fettered.

Night Prayer

Tonight I attended a Night Prayer service www.nightprayer.org at Parish of the Messiah in Newton, MA. It is a fully sung service. This one was sung by Schola Nocturna which is part of the music ministry at Messiah. About 18 singers and about 20 people in the congregation. Not bad for 8:30pm on a Sunday. The church was cloaked in darkness with lots of candles providing most of the lighting.

The music was mostly chant, some old and some newly written by the conductor. It was all a capella. There was one polyphonic (many voices) piece by William Byrd. The chanting, the quietness, the atmosphere all helped to wrap the day up in peace.

Attending this service was sort of professional research. I heard about it back in the spring. It only happens once a month. The Schola takes off during the summer. Finding new and interesting ways of praying as a community is something we as a staff talk about a lot. Our Sunday on Wednesday service came from our discussions. But sometimes I wonder, particularly when I come from an "old" style service, do we really need to reinvent the wheel. I'm not into the trendy or faddish (can't you tell?). If someone is searching for God or a community or the meaning of life are they going to find it in the latest and greatest thing on the block or in something that touches the soul through its timelessness and sheer beauty.

I don't have the answer to this question. It just keeps coming up. That's why I'm at home in this church. Questions and searching is welcome.

So this All Saints' Day was really a good one. A great morning with two baptisms, hearty singing, first class preaching followed by a nice afternoon at home (and La Boheme on the radio) and a peaceful musical night prayer to end the day.

Soli Deo Gloria! Amen.

Youth Group Meets - Watches Patriots

Okay, we're here for serious business but Will figured out how to get decent reception on the TV. So we are just about finished the third quarter and the Pats are losing, 13-10. We've ordered pizza - veggie, which Will thinks is weird. We also have Johanna, Abby, Tanner, Elizabeth, and Jake. After the game and pizza, we'll read Compline and talk about what it means as a teenager to be a saint. What fun? We'll keep you posted on our progress.

Now the Pats have won and we're reading Compline. Jake is looking in the dictionary to see what "ineffable" means - "to great or extreme to be expressed or described in words." It was used in today's Collect - "that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you."

We talked about our responsibility as saints - the fact that others might look up to us because of our faith and commitment. It makes us think about the way that we act and the things that we say. We are going to look for situations where we can make a difference by virtue of our sainthood.

Youth Group meets this Sunday evening

Emmanuel's youth group is for teenagers in middle and high school and is open to anyone who would like to come - member of Emmanuel or not. We eat pizza or enjoy potluck and we talk about issues that are important to teenagers. Occasionally, we take road trips. We meet every other Sunday, usually from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. We will meet this Sunday, November 4. You can keep up with news on upcoming events by visiting the youth group blog.

For more information, contact one of the youth group leaders, Anna Jones @ aeljones@gmail.com or Fr. Greg @ rector@emmanuelnewport.org.