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Home Page
The Rector's Welcome
Worship
Sermons
Music & the Organ
Newsletter
Schedule & Events
History
Programs & Ministries
Tour the Building
Links
Map & Directions
Monthly Calendar
Home Page
The Rector's Welcome
Worship
Sermons
Music & the Organ
Newsletter
Schedule & Events
History
Programs & Ministries
Tour the Building
Links
Map & Directions
Monthly Calendar
Fr. J. D. Ousley
20 January 2008Jn1. 29-41“Just Looking”
In the Name of God: Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Amen.
In the turbulent stock market of recent months, shares of Google have generally gone up and up.
It doesn't take an expert on investment to observe that Google has done well because it has capitalized on the modern obsession with knowledge.
The company owns the most-consulted "search engine" on the Internet. If you're looking up the address of a restaurant, or the phone number of a friend, or the directions to Saddle River, or a quote from Shakespeare — Google can give you the answer in less than a second!
And this is what people do when they pursue their spiritual quests. They look for answers to their religious questions.
You can find an example of systematic questions and answers if you turn to a "search engine" on page 845 of the Book of Common Prayer. There, you will find a document known as the Catechism. The Catechism is, as the prayer book says, an "Outline of the Faith."
In our Anglican tradition, this document used to be the basis of the instruction for young people who were preparing to be Confirmed. It's hard to imagine modern students doing this, but confirmation instruction for centuries consisted simply of memorizing the answers to all those questions in the Catechism! Every week, the students would be asked the questions, and they would have to give the exact answers. When they knew the responses by heart, they would be presented to the bishop to be confirmed.
One reason that the Catechism isn't used in this way today, is that we now recognize that seekers have questions which don't easily fit a standard mold.
So the Catechism gives the question, "What is our duty to God?" the answer given is: "Our duty is to believe and trust in God."
Now even though the Catechism goes on to give some examples of how we do this — for instance, "to love and obey God and to bring others to know him ..." — still, the answer in itself is of limited value. Yes, it is my duty to believe and trust in God. But this is easier said than done!
Just answering questions won't solve all our problems. In the Gospel for today, St. John describes how "When Jesus saw Andrew and Simon Peter following," Christ turned around and asked them, "What are you looking for?"
A search engine is absolutely useless to you unless you know what you are looking for.
Indeed, one problem with religious searching is that it can go on and on. But the religious quest is not like taking a casual stroll through Lord and Taylor's. Sooner or later, we have to act on the insights we have gained.
In the Gospel Lesson, Andrew was looking for an answer to his spiritual questions. And as the Gospel informs us, his answer came when he met "the Messiah."
For Andrew and all the other disciples whom Jesus calls, Christ is more than a purveyor of religious ideas. Christ is a person. The Messiah embodies God's message. The Messiah shows us in human form how to approach the divine.
On this weekend when we remember the life of Martin Luther King, we may naturally think of Dr. King's obedience to the way of the Christ. He saw his work as a preparation for a realm of justice that might not actually come into being in his own lifetime. He believed that like, Moses, he might only approach the entrance to the "Promised Land" of freedom from racism.
In worldly, political terms, this might be termed failure. It is often overlooked today that at the time of his death, King was regarded as weak and out-of-date.
Yet for Dr. King, and for all Christians, it is enough to try to do what we can for Christ, and leave the rest to God.
What is most important is that we are trying. Trying and failing, maybe. But not just looking on from the gallery.
Once we know what we are looking for and we have found religious truths and decided to follow the person who embodies these truths, then God will give us help in our quest. As we heard in the reading from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, God assures us that we will not be lacking in any "spiritual gift."
Granted, discerning the spiritual gifts God is offering us may be harder than we think. Martin Luther King, for example, first thought that his major talent was as a teacher and scholar.
Gradually, he came to realize, though, that academe really wasn't where his strengths resided. As he found himself being drawn into the civil rights struggle, he discovered his gift of leadership — to use a New Testament term, he discovered that he had "charisma."
We too need to determine our own gifts. Some parishes have counselors devoted to teaching people how to draw up spiritual "inventories" of what they are good at.
The reason such inventories are needed is that our gifts aren't always obvious, even if we know ourselves well. Someone who is good at math may think she should help with church finances, when, in fact, she would serve the church better helping to tend to the sick and shut-in.
Another person who is a teacher in his professional life might feel a call to work with the Sunday School. But his real gift might be helping out the church Building Committee.
Spiritual gifts, in other words, can lead us to ministry that is different from our paid work.
Whatever we might come up with, though, our ministry should be a response to God's call. It should be something God wants us to do. We aren't meant always to sit on the sidelines.
Having found a truth to follow and a person to follow, and the gifts to put what we believe into action — having gotten to the stage in which we are no longer searching but doing: then we will find spiritual rewards that we didn't expect.
We find, as Christ's disciples found, as St. Paul found, as Martin Luther King found, as all the followers of the Messiah discover. We find that we are part of a larger movement, a fellowship that spans heaven and earth.
No one has described this conviction better than Dr. King, in the unforgettable last words of his final sermon:
"And then I got into Memphis. And some began to talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."
As you sit, let us pray,
O God, by whom the faithful are guided in judgment, and light riseth up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what thou wouldest have us to do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in thy light we may see light, and in thy straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.