St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen & the Church of the Incarnation, Jersey City NJ
May 27, 2018
Year B: The First
Sunday after Pentecost – Trinity Sunday
Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 29
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1-17
Showing Up
A
few weeks ago, a very nice young couple got in touch with me about possibly
baptizing their child.
If
you’ve been here more than a few times, you know that there are few things I
enjoy more – that are more meaningful – than the privilege of baptizing
someone.
Unlike
some of my clergy colleagues, I’m also pretty easy when it comes to Baptism –
not requiring a certain amount of Sunday attendance before I’ll do a baptism –
trusting that the Holy Spirit will do what needs to be done regardless if the
newly baptized becomes a regular attendee at our church.
Anyway,
in this particular case the couple faced a bit of a dilemma because one parent
is Roman Catholic and the other is Anglican.
As
you might guess, they were getting some pressure from others about which church
would be the right church for their child’s baptism.
During
our very pleasant conversation, I talked about what we believe about Baptism,
and how exactly we baptize people in the Episcopal Church, which I think is the
main difference between Roman Catholics and us.
Most
Roman Catholic baptisms take place at a special Saturday service where usually
the only people present are the parents and family members, and maybe some
friends.
And, I get why
they do it that way. The logistics are easier. Other people, who just want to
go to church and be done with it, don’t get inconvenienced by a somewhat longer
service. And, of course, Saturday is a good day for the families who probably
will have some kind of celebration after the baptism.
I
get all that, but you won’t be surprised to know that I think our way is
better.
As
you know, almost always, we baptize right in the middle of a Sunday service
when we’re all here, getting reminded of our own baptism, and welcoming our
newest members as they are reborn into the community of love.
And,
maybe most important of all, at each baptism we promise to “uphold” the newly
baptized – to support them – to…show up when they need us.
Today
is the First Sunday after Pentecost – Trinity Sunday – the one day when we are
encouraged to humbly turn our attention to the inner life of God – the One God
in Three Persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We
could spend our whole lives pondering this great mystery - and certainly
Christians have spilled a lot of ink and exhaled a lot of breath trying to
describe – or, even worse, trying to explain
– our three-in-one God.
You’ll
be glad that I’m not going to try that here today.
I
believe that all we need to know about the Trinity is that God’s very essence
is community.
God
is the community of love.
And
that community of love would have been enough for the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit for all eternity but instead God has chosen to create all of us
– and, even more amazing, God has chosen to invite us into the community
of love.
And,
how we respond to that invitation makes all the difference.
In
today’s Gospel lesson we heard Nicodemus grapple with this invitation.
Nicodemus
is a faithful person and he recognizes the holiness of Jesus but he’s having
trouble accepting the invitation. We’re told he comes to Jesus in the dark and
misunderstands - even makes fun of - the whole idea of being born anew.
Nicodemus
has trouble accepting the invitation into the community of love – at least for
now – and we can understand that because it really is a big deal – offering us
many blessings but also plenty of responsibilities, too.
This
past week, after preaching about the power of love to a pretty tough crowd at
the royal wedding, our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry took a kind of victory
lap, appearing on lots of TV shows, including Good Morning America and The
View, (he was even satirized on Saturday
Night Live, you know you’ve made it then!) spreading the word more
powerfully and effectively than decades of Episcopal advertising!
My
favorite line from his wedding sermon was:
“Two
young people fell in love, and we all showed up.”
That’s
a great line because, of course, love can only exist – can really only thrive -
in community – love can only exist and thrive when we show up for one another.
And,
during his triumphant week, Bishop Curry didn’t just hobnob with TV
celebrities.
On
Thursday, he put the power of love into action by showing up – showing up at
the Capitol where he led Morning Prayer and then that evening, with many other
Christian leaders, he showed up again and marched to the White House, protesting
the rise of white nationalism, racism, and fear of foreigners, protesting the
abuse of women, protesting the breaking up of families at the border, protesting
all the corruption, all the cruelty, all the lies.
As
members of the community of love, Presiding Bishop Curry and the other leaders showed
up - they showed up for all of
us, especially the most vulnerable.
You
know, whenever we have a baptism I always emphasize that God’s bond with us is
forever – is unbreakable – is, the Prayer Book says, “indissoluble.”
I
believe that and I talked about it with the couple that came to see me, but the
truth is that, although God will never break with us, we can get disconnected
from the community - and the results can be disastrous.
I
thought about that during the search process for our next bishop.
It
was an honor – time-consuming but definitely an honor – to serve on the search
committee and get to know all of the fine candidates and then to recommend the
final slate of candidates.
When
Dave Hamilton was here he mentioned his unhappiness that I didn’t put my name
forward for bishop. That’s very flattering, though, let’s be honest, he is a
co-chair of my fan club!
I
will admit that I did think about it – for about ten seconds – and the main
reason why I know I’m not called to that office is because I know how much I
depend on being rooted in the community of love – and I know how bishops who
visit a different church every week have to work hard to create the kind of
community that you and I get so easily here.
As
some of you know, during the discernment retreat I asked one of the candidates,
Lisa Hunt, about this, sincerely wanting to know how she thought she’d manage
losing her deeply rooted community of love – and obviously it struck a chord
with her because she brought up my question weeks later during the
“walkabouts.”
This
week we begin formally praying for our Bishop-elect Carlye Hughes, and as she
and her husband David say good-bye to their church and their friends in Ft.
Worth, I’d encourage all of us to pray in particular that they will be able to
discover and be supported by a community of love here in northern New Jersey.
Hopefully
we will always show up for them.
Today
is Trinity Sunday when we’re reminded that God’s very essence is community.
God
is the community of love.
And
that would have been enough for all eternity but instead God has chosen to
create all of us – and to invite us into the community of love.
Which
brings us back to our friend, Nicodemus, who had come to Jesus by night, not
really understanding and certainly not accepting the invitation he had received.
Well,
Nicodemus appears one more time in the Gospel of John, at the end of the story
of Jesus - or, what had seemed like
the end.
After
the crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea arranged to take away and bury Jesus’
body.
We’re
told that Nicodemus is there, too, and that he brought a hundred pounds of
ointment - a lot of ointment - to anoint Jesus’ body before his burial.
It
seems that Nicodemus had accepted the invitation to be part of the community of
love and, in the end, as part of that community, he showed up for Jesus,
offering the best that he had, doing all that he could for Jesus at his most
vulnerable, providing us with a model of what it looks like to say yes to God’s
invitation, providing us with an image of what it looks like to be part of the
community of love.
Amen.
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