St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen, Jersey City NJ
July 20, 2014
Year A, Proper 11:
The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Genesis 28:10-19a
Psalm 139:1-11, 22-23
Romans 8:12-25
Matthew 13:24-30,
36-43
Already, But Not Yet, in Jersey City
For
the past few Sundays we’ve been hearing excerpts from St. Paul’s Letter to the
Romans.
As
you may remember, Paul was a very faithful Jew – a Pharisee, in fact – who did
not know Jesus during his earthly lifetime. As a young man, Paul (or Saul as he
was then known) persecuted some of the first followers of Jesus – the people
who claimed that God had raised Jesus from the dead.
But
then Saul had his own life-changing encounter with the Risen Christ.
That
mysterious experience transformed this remarkable man from Saul the persecutor
to Paul the Apostle.
As
he reflected on his encounter with the Risen Christ, Paul realized that since
God had raised Jesus from the dead, that means that the old world had come to
an end and a new age had begun.
And
since that new age had already begun, there was no time to waste!
So
Paul along with others began to travel among non-Jews telling them the Good
News of Jesus – the good news that salvation wasn’t just for Jews but was for
everybody.
God
was ready to adopt us all as God’s children!
Paul
proclaimed this glorious new age had already
begun but was not yet complete.
It
was already but not yet.
And
we hear the “already, not yet” in today’s passage from Paul’s Letter to the
Romans.
Most
scholars think that this letter was among the last written by Paul – that it
reflects his most mature understanding of what Jesus means for the whole world.
The
new age has already begun but is not yet complete.
In
his Letter to the Romans, Paul uses the beautiful and vivid image of childbirth
to capture the “already, not yet” state of things.
He
writes, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until
now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of
the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our
bodies.”
Paul
says that this already, not yet time – this in-between time – is like the
groans of labor as new life is created.
In
recent days we’ve been painfully reminded that we live in the already, not yet
– in this groaning, in-between time.
On
the one hand we don’t have to look far to see all kinds of signs that the
joyful new age has already begun.
Here
at St. Paul’s, week after week, we enjoy beautiful worship and warm fellowship.
Our church continues to grow and become healthier and even more committed to
spreading the good news of Jesus.
Already.
Many
Sundays as I stand at the altar rail and watch you all come forward to receive
communion, I think to myself, “The Kingdom of God is like this.” People
of all different backgrounds and life experiences, all different ages and
colors, all coming forward hungry and expectant, ready to take the Body of
Christ into our bodies and into our souls.
Already.
We’ll
be spreading the Good News on Friday evening when we take our church into the
world, holding a service at McGinley Square, offering the Good News of Jesus –
offering Jesus himself - without walls.
Already.
And
on Saturday, lots and lots of people will see us marching in the West Indian parade.
And I have no doubt that God will use our joyful presence to remind at least
some of the hungry people of our city that they can find the good food right
here and at Incarnation and Grace Van Vorst.
Already.
Last
Saturday afternoon Sue and I and my parents and lots of other happy people
attended the wedding of my cousin Danny and his long-time girlfriend, Kristen.
It was right over at St. Aedan’s. I was honored that they asked me to be part
of the service – and pleasantly surprised that the Catholic priest went along
with it (up to a point, of course.) There was real joy at the service and at the
party afterwards as these two fine, generous young people – a firefighter and a
teacher - made a lifelong commitment of love.
Already.
And
then… the next morning we woke up to the horrible news of the shooting of young
Officer Melvin Santiago, killed before he knew what him, assassinated by a
seemingly out of his mind Lawrence Campbell, just a few blocks from here.
Not
yet.
The
reactions to the bloody deaths of Officer Santiago and Mr. Campbell uncovered
and revealed all kinds of ugliness and pain in our city – uncovered and
revealed all kinds of ugliness and pain that’s usually ignored by the media and
the powers that be but that many of us in this room have to live with everyday.
The
ugliness and pain of young people without hope and opportunity, the often
justified mistrust of the police and other authorities, racism and classism, a
longstanding lack of leadership, a city more divided than ever into haves and
have-nots and never-will-haves, whole neighborhoods mostly unaware of other
parts of the city just a mile or two away.
Not
yet.
On
Tuesday the mayor invited the city’s clergy to a meeting to discus the
situation. The meeting was at the Bethune Center so I decided I would drive
right down MLK Drive to see the situation for myself.
I’ll
admit I was frightened – scared and saddened by the heavily armed officers
looking more like the military than cops on the beat. I was frightened by the
obviously angry people on every corner, some of whom looked at me in my Honda
wearing my clerical collar with undisguised disdain.
And
then I got to the Bethune Center and saw an entire block of TV news vans with
reporters already interviewing clergy members and community activists, adding
more hot air to keep the fire burning.
Not
yet.
Like
many of you, I’m sure, all of this sadness and fear here in our city, plus
what’s going on around the world, and whatever is going on in our own lives, has
got me feeling down this week. I’ve been discouraged by so much suffering and
pain, by our many problems that seem so big and unsolvable.
But,
like our friend St. Paul, in my heart I really believe that, despite
appearances to the contrary, the new age of love and salvation has already
begun.
I’ve
mentioned before that for the past five or six weeks, members of the clergy
have been praying at places in our city where homicides have occurred. The
first couple times there were only a few of us and we were weak and uncertain,
careful not offend each other’s traditions and customs.
But,
the past couple of times, our numbers have been growing. Not only is our prayer
for the dead and for peace gaining strength and confidence, but a real trust
and friendship is growing among us.
My
hope is that we will find ways for not just clergy but all of us to be present
in the pain of our city and to groan right alongside our suffering brothers and
sisters.
My
prayer is that God will use us – use St. Paul’s and the Episcopal Church in
Jersey City - to do what God always does, turn the groans of labor into the
joyful shouts of new life.
I
don’t know how exactly that’s going to happen.
But,
with St. Paul, here at St. Paul’s, I know that the new age has begun.
Already.
Amen.
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