"Love Heals"

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

April 21, 2019

Easter Sunday

          Thistle Farms was founded by Becca Stephens, an Episcopal priest, in Nashville, Tennessee.  Thistle Farms provides women who are survivors of trafficking, prostitution, and addiction a second chance to build a healthy life.  The women are provided a safe place to live, meaningful work, and the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual support they need to survive and thrive.  Thistle Farms is built on the premise that, and I quote, “Love is the most powerful force in the world because love has the power to heal.”  

          There is a country music song based on the work of Thistle Farms.  The song is written and sung by Alison Kraus and Becca Stephen’s son, Levi Hammon.  The song is called “Love heals.”  The whole piece is both moving and profound, but the words to the refrain are especially poignant:

“Oh I've never seen a broken heart

Once shattered and torn apart

That could not come back together

And I've never known a life so heavy

Couldn't stand on legs unsteady

And one day run light as a feather

Baby here's the deal

Love heals.”

          This morning, the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee arrive at the tomb with their spices, expecting to anoint the dead body of Jesus.  They had heard the crowds scream “Crucify him” when Jesus had done nothing to deserve death.  They had watched as Jesus was crucified and then they heard him promise the criminal crucified with him that today, he would be with Jesus in paradise.  The women had followed as the dead body of Jesus was taken down from the cross and placed in a tomb.  Their hearts are shattered and torn apart having witnessed the gruesome death of their loved one.  I imagine their legs were none too steady as they made their way to the tomb. 

What the women find at the tomb makes no sense.  The women had watched as Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb so they are perplexed when the tomb is empty.  Perplexity turns to fear when they are greeted by two men in dazzling white who ask “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Then the men say “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”

          Surprisingly, we are not told of any great joy or excitement when the women remember Jesus’ words and realize that those words have come true.  The women do not run from the tomb to tell the others. We are simply told that, upon returning from the tomb, the women told the eleven and all the rest what they had been told.  No one but Peter even believes them.  And after Peter runs to the tomb and is amazed by what has happened, he simply goes home. 

Once the women tell the eleven and all the rest what they have seen, we don’t hear from them again in Luke’s gospel.  But they were the first to see the empty tomb, to ponder the words “Why do you seek the living among the dead” and to tell the others that Jesus’ own words about his crucifixion and resurrection have become reality.  I wonder if the implications of this new reality took a while to sink in.  I wonder if it was in the telling of the story that the words became real to the women and the reality of resurrection life began to set in. 

          What is the reality of resurrection life?  What is this reality that we are called to profess with our lips and proclaim with our lives? 

First, resurrection life brings us face to face with the tomb that had held captive the result of fear, hatred, and death.  The women were willing to look that tomb in the eye and confront the results of the powers of evil.  Resurrection life admits that fear, hatred, and death are real.  Our Lenten journey has given us opportunity to face whatever tomb holds us captive and separates us from knowing fully the love of God.  The women of Thistle Farms recognize the tombs that hold them captive as they begin to rebuild their lives. 

Secondly, Resurrection life calls us forward into new life.  Even if we are perplexed by the enormity of the empty tomb and, like the women, do not find joy right away, the empty tomb promises new life.  Life would never go back to the way it was for Jesus’ disciples before they began to follow Jesus.  We see that in the reading from Acts.  Peter does not go back to fishing.  Resurrection life transforms Peter into the great leader and dynamic preacher we see in the reading from Acts this morning.  Resurrection life calls us forward as well, as year after year we enter the story of the women and find the tomb of fear, hatred, and death empty.  Whether as individuals, families, or as a church, God does not call us backwards to be what we once were. God calls us forward to be the people God intends us to be now.  The resurrection love of Thistle Farms transforms the lives of women, not into what they were before, or a better version of what they were before, but into the new people God is calling them to be. 

          Lastly, Resurrection life proclaims that the tomb that once held the result of fear, hate, and death is now the tomb that holds only the resurrection love of God.   The resurrection is God’s love saying to us that in the face of fear, joy wins.  In the face of death, life wins. And in the face of hate, love wins.  And, as Thistle Farms proclaims, love heals.  The outrageous promise of Easter, in a nutshell, is that when we feel shattered and torn apart, and we are standing on legs unsteady, resurrection love heals.  Love healed the broken hearts of the women who had come to anoint Jesus’ body.  Love heals the women at Thistle Farms.  And love heals us.  The empty tomb proclaims that love and life have won, forever. 

                                                                             Amen.

Parades

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

April 14, 2019

Palm Sunday

          The Memorial Parade has become something of a tradition at Christ Church-if we define a tradition as anything we have done more than once!  Our original goal in joining the parade was to increase our visibility in Hudson, which we certainly achieved with a huge float holding a likeness of our three buildings, a bagpiper or two and drums, dozens of us in Christ Church T-shirts riding or walking, and a large “God Loves You, No Exceptions” sign.  The mood of the parade is joyful as we pass by thousands of Hudsonites along the parade route, waving and enjoying the day.

          Being in the parade is obviously about more than just getting from Acme to the cemetery and being noticed.  First, being in a parade is about being part of something larger than oneself.  When we are part of the Memorial Parade, we are claiming our spot as part of the larger Hudson community as well as part of a nation recognizing those who gave the last full measure of devotion for their country.  The float itself connects us with historic Hudson and our place on the Green reminds people that our iconic Chapel is also vibrant congregation.  

Secondly, a lot of us have on identical Christ Church t-shirts, even though we don’t all look alike or believe exactly the same thing.   We are not all the same age or have the same political affiliation.  There is unity in our diversity.  In the parade, we both experience and proclaim that unity.

Lastly, our sign proclaims our common belief that God loves you, no exceptions.  This message tells people a bit about who we are and what we stand for as Christ Church Episcopal as we walk together up Main Street. 

          We join another parade this morning as Jesus makes his way into Jerusalem. Just as the Memorial Day parade is not just about being seen while getting from Acme to the cemetery, the Palm Sunday parade is about more than just getting Jesus from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem.  The pieces and parts of this parade also tell us something about both the participants in the parade and who we are called to be as followers of the One who leads the parade.

          First, Jesus sends two of his disciples ahead to find a colt that has never been ridden.  The colt doesn’t just show up-preparation is required.  But what strikes me here is the obedience of the two disciples.  Jesus’ request is admittedly odd.  The disciples are to fetch a colt that is not theirs and has never been ridden, saying to anyone who asks “The Lord needs it.”’  We’d all do that.  Right?  I, for one, would be wondering who I can call to post bail.  But the disciples trust Jesus and do as he asks.'

          Secondly, once the disciples arrive with the colt, they put their cloaks on the animal and help Jesus onto the colt.  The people spread their cloaks along the road for Jesus and the colt, as if to roll out a red carpet.  The image is of a powerful king entering the city on a mighty war horse, except Jesus is on a colt picking his way into the city over the cloaks of the people that adorn the path.  This is a humble king entering a city with no weapons, unprotected and vulnerable. 

          Lastly, a whole multitude of disciples praise God joyfully with a loud voice “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven.”  These words echo the words of the angels at Jesus’ birth: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.”  The multitude of disciples realizes that they are part of something much larger than themselves, even if they are not sure what that is. Then some of the Pharisees say to Jesus “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.”  And Jesus replies “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”  The parade is part of something so much larger than the human mind can comprehend, that even the stones will praise God.

          Obedience, humility, and submitting to something larger than the human mind can comprehend.  These are the themes of the Palm Sunday parade-the parade that takes us into the heart of Holy Week and the passion and resurrection of Jesus.  These are the themes we are called to listen for as we enter the story both today and in the week ahead.  These are the themes we are called to embrace with our lives as we follow the one who entered Jerusalem this day to give his life for the life of the world.

                                                                             Amen.

Now

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

April 7, 2019

5 Lent C

Bernice Cain was a parishioner at St. James Episcopal Church, in Piqua, Ohio.  She died many years ago and she very generously left her farm to the church.  A farm is a lovely gift, but what on earth was the church to do with it? Vestry meetings were very interesting as we considered the possibilities. We could keep the farm and continue to lease the land to the person currently farming there, but that would make the church a farm owner and we were not at all sure that the church was called to be a farm owner. We could turn the farm into a retreat center and host a variety of groups there but staffing the retreat center would be a challenge. We could sell the property, but there were some restrictions on the use of the land that might make that difficult. What were we to do with this most generous, even extravagant gift that would honor Bernice’s generosity and not create a burden for the church for generations to come?

In the end, the farmer leasing the property wanted to purchase the land and continue to farm in the place where he had already invested so much time and energy. This was a win-win, for sure. The land would continue to be farmed and the church would not own it. But now we had a new challenge-what to do with the significant amount of money from the sale of the land. More interesting vestry meetings followed as some people thought the money should be saved, some thought it should be given away, some thought the money should be spent on much needed repairs to the building, and other vestry members had other ideas. When the church had just enough money to pay the bills, there was no reason to talk about what needs we might meet with a windfall of cash. Now that there was some money, more needs emerged than there was money to fix.

This gift of a farm seems a bit like the gift of costly perfume that Mary used to anoint Jesus’ feet this morning. What was the appropriate use of a such an extravagant gift that, in Mary’s case was worth about a year’s wages for a laborer? Should the money have been given to the poor, even if Judas’ motive was not so pure? Or was Mary’s use of the costly perfume to anoint Jesus’ feet a way of honoring Jesus?  Jesus had just raised Mary’s brother Lazarus from the dead after all. Or does this anointing point to a new future as we know, even if the disciples did not, that Jesus will not be available for anointing after burial. Should the value of the perfume be used to reduce scarcity or to create abundance? That is the same question that the church in Piqua wrestled with as they worked to discern the most faithful use of the money they had inherited.

However, in the beginning of the conversations about what to do with the money, I think people in Piqua secretly, or in some cases quite openly, hoped that the money would allow the church to go back to the glory days of large families, full pews, and a budget that would more than meet basic expenses. The temptation was, and often is, to look to the past to define what we should be doing in the present or what our goal should be for the future. If we just had enough money, people, resources, time, energy, or whatever, to be the way we used to be, then all would be well. Our reading from Isaiah nips that attitude right in the bud. This morning we hear God say "Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing. Do you not perceive it?" Now, this is the same God who continually self-identifies as "the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" and "the God who brought you out of bondage in Egypt and into the Land of Promise." The very passage we heard this morning begins by recalling the way God brought the Israelites out of Egypt by making a path in the mighty waters. So, why does God say "Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old" when God has just reminded us of those exact things?

I don’t think God really wants any of us to forget what God has done in the past, either in Scripture, or in the history of the church, or in our own lives. But God clearly does not want us to cling to the past as if God only acted in the past. God does not want the Israelites to look back at their Exodus from Egypt and think "Wasn’t that a great thing God did!" God wants the Israelites to look back at the Exodus and think "If God can do that, I wonder what God is doing now!" God says "I am about to do a new thing. Do you not perceive it?" If we let God’s past actions keep us from seeing what God is doing now, we are worshiping the past, not God.

As we move toward Holy Week, we are tempted to think that our observances of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, his last supper with his disciples, his arrest, trial, and crucifixion, and even his resurrection are simply reminders of what God has done in the past. And we do remember, year after year, what God has done for us in the events of Holy Week and Easter. But just when we get too caught up in celebrating what God has done for us in the past, we hear God say "I am about to do a new thing. Do you not perceive it?" As we move into Holy Week, we are called to wonder "What new thing is God doing in our midst now?”  Are our hearts and eyes open to see what God is doing now?

In the end, the church in Piqua decided to bank half the money for what new thing God might be calling them to do, and use the other half of the money for some renovations and repairs to the building that would make the parish hall accessible to all people and create more fellowship opportunities, expand the food pantry to serve more people, and paint the inside of the church so that the building would look less shabby and more welcoming. Those were good decisions that really did bring some growth and energy to the church as new things began to happen in the renovated space and new ideas for ministry began to emerge. God calls us to remember what God has done, not so that we can repeat the past, but so that we can see what new thing God is doing in our midst, now.

                                                          Amen.