Our Parable

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
September 26, 2021

21 Proper B 

          On July 15 of last year, the vestry met in the old Parish Hall, masked and a full 6 feet apart, to hear the report from our architects and construction manager and decide whether to proceed with our Building for Community construction project.  On the plus side, the cost of the project plus contingency funds had come in right at the amount we had in pledges, which was the goal.  Also, because of the pandemic, the building was not in use by our own or outside groups for the foreseeable future, making gutting the space less inconvenient.  On the negative side was the pandemic, economic uncertainty, questions about the availability of labor and supplies, and the general feeling that embarking on a major construction project in the midst of a global pandemic might not be the wisest course of action.

          After a few minutes of very amicable and respectful conversation, our vestry decided unanimously to step out in faith and forge ahead.  Fast forward to today, and after much hard work on the part of the project leadership, a few hiccups of varying degrees, and a lot of toil and labor on the part of many workers, we are here to celebrate, bless, and give thanks to God for our beautiful new and renovated spaces.  Who knew a church could be so excited about new restrooms? 

          While we may be excited, joyful, and grateful this morning, no one in our readings seems to share our joy.  In fact, Jesus and King Ahasuerus seem downright angry, and the writer of James must not be happy with the people to whom he is writing or he would not be telling them how to pray and what to do when someone wanders from the faith! 

          Jesus is angry with his disciples because they fail to see what God is doing in their midst.  John says to Jesus “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”  The disciples cannot see God at work in anyone other than themselves, but earlier in this very chapter of Mark, the disciples themselves had failed to cast out a demon.  Jesus uses very strong language to get the disciples attention and express his anger at their narrow mindedness. 

          King Ahasuerus is also angry.  Furious, in fact.  The story of Esther is a great story, full of humor and plot twists, suspense and intrigue, along with no small amount of violence and other scenes that would disqualify the story for a PG rating, which a sermon must have.  However, at the end of the day, the King is furious because his own Prime Minister, Haman, has plotted to kill all of the Jewish people, of which the King’s wife, Esther, is one.  The King has Haman hung on gallows in a scene that is just about as grizzly as what Jesus says will happen to anyone who puts a stumbling block before a little one who believes in him. Ugh.

          Interestingly, nowhere in the book of Esther is God, the Torah, prayer, or worship mentioned.  The deliverance of the Jewish people in Persia is due strictly to the cunning and conniving of Esther, with some help from Mordecai.  The pairing of this story with Psalm 124 in the lectionary makes it clear that, in Hebrew thought, God gets the credit for delivering God's people every time they are delivered, which is why Esther is included in the Hebrew scriptures despite the lack of any reference to God.  Again, God is at work in the most unlikely of people.

          On a happier note, the writer of James describes the power of prayer, forgiveness, and reconciliation.  While the letter was likely written to people who needed to know these things because they were not practicing them, at least James is not hanging anyone on a gallows or amputating body parts!

          The disciples could not see God at work in the lives of unlikely people.  In the story of Esther, we see God working, unnamed and unmentioned, through the Persians, to liberate God’s people.  The people to whom James is written clearly needed to hear about the life of faith and God’s power to mend their lives.  Today, we have gathered to celebrate God’s work in our lives, moving us into the future, using us to make a gospel difference in our community and the world with the message of God’s love and forgiveness.  We are here today because people, this congregation, you, opened your hearts to what God might be doing in our midst, gave generously of both financial resources as well as time and talent, and took a bold step into the future by completing a fully pledged construction project during a pandemic.  The completion of this project is not an end in itself, but shows us what we can do, the difference we can make when we all give what we can of our time, talent, and treasure.  If we can do this, which we did, there is no end to what God can do through us.

          A faithful church is called to vision, to see what God is doing in our midst and calling us to do.  We are doing that this fall through our cottage conversations as we have done two other times over the past 5 years as no one person or group can do that visioning alone.  We are all called, each one of us, to be listening for what God is doing in our midst and calling us to do.  But visioning alone did not get us a renovated parish hall and new restrooms and will not move us into God’s future.  The commitment of the time, talent, and treasure-financial resources-of each of us is required for a vision to become a reality.  That commitment is just as important now if not more so than it was for the Building for Community project as we re-engage after the many months apart. Everyone in the parish will receive an invitation to a cottage conversation so that we can all dream together about our future.  And everyone will receive a pledge packet so that we can all work together to make our dreams a reality.  The vestry has already made their pledges for 2022 and together the leadership of the parish increased the total of their pledges by over 10 percent to help turn dreams into reality.

          Our readings today call us to see what God is doing in our midst, even when God is working in unlikely places and times, and through unlikely people.  Our Building for Community adventure is a parable for what we can accomplish when we vision together about what God is calling us to do and be and commit together to making that vision a reality.  Our celebration marks not the end of a project, but the beginning of a new season.  There is no end to the amazing and surprising things God can do in our midst when each of us offers our time, talent, and treasure and we all work together.                                                                 Amen.