St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
February 12, 2023
Year A: The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany
Sirach 15:15-20
Psalm 119:1-8
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Matthew 5:21-37
Spiritual Training
I love this time of year.
Although it can still be quite cold, and although the groundhog saw his shadow, right around now we start to see and feel the first hints that the seasons are beginning to change.
I’m sure that you gardeners, especially, have spotted the first sprouts poking through the soil – taking that as a sign of hope or maybe seeing it as a cause of concern that things are happening too quickly.
And even those of us who barely pay attention have surely noticed that the days are growing longer. Now, when I walk out the door after our Sunday evening service there are still a few lingering hints of daylight – and we know that ever-brighter days are ahead.
And, just as the seasons are beginning to change outside, the seasons are starting to change here in church, too.
I know it feels like we just took down the Christmas decorations, but Ash Wednesday is just a week from Wednesday – no, it’s true - so we are now deeply into what we might call “Pre-Lent.”
If you were here last week, you may remember that we heard God speaking through the Prophet Isaiah, describing the kind of sacrifice that is most pleasing to God, a kind of fasting that is way more costly and holy than giving up wine or chocolate.
God says, “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”
Oh yes, it’s “Pre-Lent.”
And today’s lessons point even more clearly to a change of seasons here in church.
In today’s first lesson, from the Book of Sirach, we heard a heavy emphasis on choice – on our choices:
“If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.”
Those verses reminded me of a school disciplinarian I once worked with. When a student, or a teacher, messed up he always said, with a shrug,
“It’s all about choices.”
And the psalmist writes, “Happy are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!”
But who exactly is blameless? And how could we ever even approach blamelessness?
I mean, even if we live our lives with as much integrity as we can, we all benefit from unjust practices – a system that makes life so hard for the poor, and a way of life that implicates all of us in the poisoning of the earth.
And then we have some hard teaching from Jesus in today’s gospel lesson.
Last week, Jesus insisted that he had come not to abolish the Jewish Law but to fulfill it.
And now, Jesus goes even further than that – intensifying the Law that is already quite demanding and strict.
Jesus teaches that anger and insult approach the seriousness of murder – that lust is adultery in our hearts – that divorce is wrong – that we should cut off parts of our body that cause us to sin - that we should not swear, ever.
Reading that challenging passage, I was reminded of another moment, later in the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus offers a different hard teaching. The disciples are astounded and ask, “Then who can be saved?” And Jesus replies, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
Listening to today’s lessons – the importance of our choices – the call to blamelessness – the teaching that what’s going on in our hearts is at least as important as what we actually do – we may feel just like those first disciples.
“Who can be saved?”
And Jesus’ answer is the same today as it was back then, “For God all things are possible.”
So, it seems to me that our most important task is to open our hearts to God – to allow God to work through us.
And, just like athletes striving for even greater excellence, opening our heart to God, allowing God to work through us, requires training – spiritual training.
Which is a good way to think of Lent, isn’t it?
During those forty days of preparation, we’re encouraged to hit the spiritual gym: to run – or walk – or maybe just crawl - the spiritual track – to lift some spiritual weights – it’s OK to start with the lightest ones.
During those forty days – and, hopefully always – our spiritual training shapes us so that we really can open our hearts to God, allowing God to work through us.
And what might that spiritual training look like?
Well, let me tell you the story of my first church job.
Sixteen years ago, I was in my last semester at seminary.
Commencement and ordination were getting close.
It was all very exciting.
I was filled with a sense of blessedness, and accomplishment, and, maybe most of all, relief.
There was, however, just one little thing: now I had to find a job.
Even back then, fulltime clergy positions were already getting kind of scarce. In fact, in my diocese there was only one fulltime position available – to serve as curate (or the assistant clergy person) at Grace Church in Madison.
Madison was and is a beautiful and appealing suburban town, its streets lined with plenty of old trees shading attractive homes. It has a main street picturesque enough to have been featured in several movies. There’s a train station offering easy access to New York City.
In short, it’s a really nice place.
But I really didn’t want to go there.
I was convinced that I was called to be a city priest – after all, that’s the world that I knew and where I thought I could minister best.
And, to be totally honest, I felt insecure, afraid that I just wouldn’t fit in with people who went to fancier schools than I had, who were interested in things that I knew nothing about – stuff, like, you know, golf and gardening.
(Yes, God has a sense of humor.)
But, despite my hang-ups, the reality was that I needed a job.
So, I went out to Madison to meet with the then-rector, the Rev. Lauren Ackland, and have conversations with a wide range of parishioners. Slowly, it dawned on me that I liked these people. I could imagine myself living among them and serving beside them.
As the day went on, I became more and amazed by just how much was going on at Grace Church – so many wonderful, vibrant ministries, mostly led by lay people.
Finally, near the end of my interview day, Lauren asked me if I had any questions.
And, I said something like, “I have to ask, why do you think this church is doing so well?”
I’m kind of embarrassed by that question now (Remember, I was new to all of this!), but I’m glad that I asked because I’ll never forget Lauren’s answer.
Without hesitation, she said, “It’s the daily worship.”
Grace Church offered a public service of worship every day of the year. Most of the weekday services were not particularly well attended. Sometimes it was just the officiant and the reader – and sometimes just the officiant alone, praying for, and on behalf of, the whole community.
Lauren said that the walls of the church were “bathed in prayer,” and that all of those prayers had a powerful spiritual effect.
I confess that at the time I was skeptical, but over the years I became convinced that she was absolutely right.
I can’t really explain how, but by God’s grace, the practice of daily prayer – that spiritual training - strengthened the entire church.
And, what’s true for a community is also true for each of us.
We have been given a seemingly impossible challenge – to always make good choices – to live blamelessly – to control our hearts as much as we contain our actions – all seemingly impossible, but with God, all things are possible.
The changing seasons are a call for us to hit the spiritual gym – to do some spiritual training – shaping us to open our hearts to God, allowing God to work through us.
Happy “Pre-Lent!”
Amen.
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