“Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?” This is the question God asks through his prophet Jeremiah. Clearly, as the hymn we know and love and will sing on Sunday tells us, the answer is “yes.” The territory in Transjordan, in the north of Israel where the region of Gilead lay, was well known for its medicinal herbs. And where there is medicine there must be doctors. So, what is the problem? Israel is ill and dying, and yet they refuse the cure. Why? It is easier just to keep on as we are, doing what we are used to doing, than it is to break the old habits and begin a new regimen. We all know that. But do we consider that we are refusing God when we do?

    Scripture is uniformly clear in its call to put God above all else, to worship and serve God faithfully, to refuse all idols and devices that draw us from God. It does NOT tell us that in order to do these things we must do so in a manner that is absolutely the same as “we have always done.” In fact, much of Jesus’ message, and much of both the New Testament and the Hebrew scriptures, is directly telling us that God is doing a NEW thing—and so should we.

    In his first letter to Timothy, Paul encourages prayer for kings and all others in power, no matter what their religious or political positions, first of all so that they will allow the faithful to live in peace, knowing that they are being supported. Then he goes on to argue a more theological position, saying that God desires the salvation of everyone, even those who may oppress believers. This is an about face from more traditional adversarial views of those who oppose God’s faithful; there is no retribution, no “eye for an eye” here. Further, the outsiders are being welcomed in. This is definitely not the old way.

    In telling his disciples the parable of the shrewd manager, Jesus is setting out a rather confusing pattern to follow. Following what we know about reading parables, the master who dismisses the manager is God, and the manager is Israel. Israel’s job is to manage God’s property, to be the light of the world, to be responsible to God and for God’s possessions. But Israel has failed at this job, and is now being let go. What to do? Not what the Pharisees do, which is to get even stricter about the rules and to create even more rules to make Israel “holier.” If we follow the story, what Jesus is advocating for Israel, in the face of crisis, to try something far less cautious: forget all the extra, add-on rules and regulations, and get down to the essentials of the Law—loving God and neighbor. Make friends, and bring those friends into God’s Kingdom, too.

    “Mammon,” the word our translation renders into “wealth,” is a Greek transliteration of a Semitic word that could also mean, “that which one trusts.” It is impossible to serve God and your own trusted ways. Serving God may well mean going somewhere, doing something that scares you and takes you into the unknown. Is that happening in your life, somewhere?  Is it happening in the life of the Cathedral Family?

This Rally Day Sunday marks the beginning of a landmark program year in the life of the Christ Church Cathedral Family. We will launch our Christian formation and music programs and prepare for the usual events of the Church year, all the while looking forward in a new way. As we anticipate the restoration of our historic steeple later this fall, we will begin a process of studying the feasibility of completing the remaining components of the master plan for our facilities.

    During our worship, we will commission our Christian formation teachers, giving thanks and offering our support for their important ministry. Then, following worship, we will gather in the Chapter House for a parish meeting. There will be opportunities for everyone to sign up for various ministries, and I will explain some of the new elements of our formation program. Then, there will be a presentation about the master plan and the feasibility study. Jim Barganier, of Barganier Davis Sims Architects, will be present to explain the remaining portions of the plan designed and approved in 2009. Then, Tom Hanrahan and his team from Southeastern Advancement Services will be introduced; Tom will explain the process of interviews and questionnaires that will be used to discern whether and how we will undertake this forward-looking project. I hope that many of you will be present.

    Our lessons from scripture this Sunday focus on God’s power and faithfulness—and the faithful following that God asks of us in return. The gospel reading from Luke gives us Jesus’ telling of two familiar parables of the lost and found: the lost sheep and the lost coin. At this point in his ministry, Jesus had been welcoming and eating with the tax collectors and sinners who came to listen to him teach. The “insiders” of the time, the scribes and the Pharisees, grumbled about this, and in response to their displeasure Jesus told these parables. Imagine, he said, that you are a shepherd with 100 sheep; if one goes missing, you would leave the 99 and go looking for that one lost sheep. Then, after walking and searching high and low, when you found it you would be elated, and carry it back to the flock rejoicing! Likewise, imagine you are a woman who has ten silver coins; when one goes missing, you would turn the house upside down, sweeping and looking closely until you found it, and when you did you would be elated and share your joy with all your friends and neighbors. This is what God is always doing, Jesus explained. God is always desiring and searching, looking intently for those who are not following in his way. When he finds them, he welcomes them to him. AND, there is rejoicing in heaven—a real celebration—every time ONE lost person returns to God’s way.

    This is God’s primary action in our lives. God loves each one of us, and everyone else, no matter what we have done or not done; and so, God loves looking for us and celebrating when he finds us. Doesn’t this tell us pretty clearly what we ought to be doing, in our individual lives and in our life together? We should be looking for and welcoming and celebrating with everyone who would be a part of the household of God that we enjoy so much here. And we should be all about doing everything in our power to make this place available to them.

​A Prayer for Labor Day

Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

This prayer will be part of our Prayers of the People this Sunday, and whether you are present or not, please make it a part of your prayers this weekend. It reminds us of how our work connects us to the community around us and to the wider world. Our readings this Sunday show us how God works with us to shape our lives and make us able agents to accomplish the work he has for us to do. 

The prophet Jeremiah recounts the familiar story of his visit to the potter’s house. There he sees the potter shaping a vessel on his wheel. When it was spoiled or misshapen, the potter reworked it into another vessel that seemed good to him. God tells Jeremiah that this is what he is doing with Israel; he is shaping and turning it to be his chosen nation, but if the nation (the clay) does not cooperate, he will destroy it and shape another nation for his purposes. The work of the potter with the clay is a mutual process in this analogy-something is required of the clay.

Paul’s letter to Philemon is very short, so short as to need no chapters. In it Paul (now an “old man”) addresses Philemon concerning his slave, Onesimus, who has become like a son to Paul during his imprisonment. With a heavy heart, Paul has sent Onesimus back to Philemon, and he asks Philemon to consider him as no longer a slave but as “a beloved brother,” useful to both Paul and Philemon for the spreading of the gospel. The central thread of Paul’s message is freedom; he refuses to exercise his own authority in directing Philemon to “do your duty,” preferring rather to “appeal to you on the basis of love.” This is also how he encourages this master to treat his slave, as well. This is, of course, how God deals with each of us.

In Luke’s gospel we read this week Jesus’ sayings on the cost of discipleship. A cursory reading of this passage leaves us thinking Jesus sounds harsh, or that he is overstating, when he says, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” The scholar N.T. Wright suggests that we might read this passage more subtly as the kind of words that might come from the leader of a great expedition. The call to discipleship is serious, demanding all from those who accept it. Jesus presents following him as a great challenge, something to be placed before the demands and responsibilities of this world.

These readings, coupled with our reflections on human labor, remind us that our work is unfinished, God’s work is unfinished, and we are unfinished works. My prayer this Labor Day is that we return to our life together refreshed and ready for a new beginning in the program year ahead. May God bless your time of rest this weekend.