Canon Anne Wrider, as a gift to Sr. Jean, was kind enough to present the sermon on the Sunday after Sr. Jean’s Institution as Rector Of Trinity. Everyone who heard it was inspired. People asked if they could have a copy, so it was decided to print it for everyone.
SERMON, TRINITY, FISHKILL
APRIL 24, 2005
EASTER 5(a)
The Rev. Canon Anne Wrider
Family stories are part of the glue that holds life together. We hear about Aunt Hattie’s famous rice pudding, or we remember the story about how Grandma and Grandpa met. Some of the stories are happy, but not all. Some of the stories are things to be proud of, but not always. Some stories we tell easily, some we keep to ourselves. But all of the stories have their place. And the stories are interwoven with one another. As families grow and change, individual stories are woven into the fabric of the family. As children are born and people are married, move away, die, the story continues.
Trinity, Fishkill is adding a new chapter to its family story. You have a new rector, and the story she carries with her is going to be woven into yours. For many of you, your individual stories will come to include her, and her story will have you in there somewhere. As this new chapter opens, it’s a special moment – one to cherish.
Easter is a season for telling the family story of the family of God. We hear it in the reading from Deuteronomy. Moses said, “When your children ask you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your children, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us up out of Egypt with a mighty hand…’ “
The story of the children of Israel is our story. It is the story of our ancestors in the faith, men and women who trusted God enough to leave their slavery and venture out into a new land. It is the story of Moses, who knew how to listen for God’s voice and who, even in the midst of his own doubt and fear, led God’s people. Leading people into an unknown land is a fearful and difficult task, and following a leader into that place can be anxious as well. As you and Sr. Jean move into whatever new land God has provided for you, you can remember that people have crossed deserts and seas before you on the same journey.
Today’s psalm is the song of the journey. I know that, as a people on the sacred journey, you can sing these words with true understanding. I don’t even need to know the specifics of your journey to know that, because I know that every person of faith, every community that follows the path of God, can sing the same song. “Come now and see the works of God, how wonderful he is in his doing toward all people.” If I sat down and asked any number of you about the wonderful works of God, I know that you could tell me. Your story is interwoven with all the other people traveling this road with you.
I could have brought people from my congregation in Cincinnati, and you would have been able to tell the same story. Your story and theirs are interwoven, and part of the great story of the faithful people of God.
And, as Christians, we have a unique story to tell. Not only can we tell that our ancestors were slaves in Egypt and that God brought us out of slavery, but we can also tell the story of Jesus. We can tell the story of how God rescued us from the slavery of hopelessness and sin and gave us hope and meaning. We can tell the extraordinary story of a God whose love is so vast and deep and broad and high that it will go to any lengths to reach out to us. We can tell how we see that love in our own individual lives and in in the life of our community.
Today’s gospel is an amazing bit of the story in itself. The setting is at the Last Supper. The disciples are frightened and confused. They don’t know what is going to happen next, but they have every reason to be anxious. Jesus has washed their feet, which was unsettling. Judas has already gone out, and Jesus has foretold not only his betrayal, but Peter’s denial as well. And in that moment when Jesus could easily have given way to bitterness and anger, he reaches out to this frightened, unlikely group of people, people who will run away in terror before too long, and tells them that he is going to prepare a place for them in the Kingdom. And in that dark, candlelit room, Jesus gives these people, our ancestors, the secret of getting into the Kingdom of God. The secret – the way, the truth and the life – is the love that pours itself out completely for others. It would be easy if we could claim the Kingdom simply by speaking Jesus’ name, and some people have tried to interpret this passage that way. But Jesus is saying something much deeper and more difficult to us, “no one comes to the Father – to perfect and infinite love – except through me – through the suffering that is willing to die that others might live.” It is through the works themselves, the works of self-sacrificing love, that the Kingdom is opened.
This is our story, too. We know that Jesus Christ is alive because we have met that living presence. We have the experience of that love which takes in everything we are and have, that knows us down to our last atom and loves us still. We know the experience of God bringing life out of death, and this is the story we have to tell. It is the story that was told to us and the one we are entrusted to pass along. We need to tell it to one another, we need to tell it to our children, and we need to tell it to the world. Sr Jean has been called to lead you in the telling of the story. It is not hers to tell alone. Her task is to make sure that the story is told and to help you see how your individual stories are woven into the infinite Story of God. It is her job to lead you in the song, “Be joyful in God, all you lands; sing the glory of his Name; sing the glory of his praise…Come now and see the works of God, how wonderful he is in his doing toward all people…Bless our God, you peoples, make the voice of his praise to be heard.”
May you sing the song and tell the story with joy for all the years to come.
Amen.
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