Holy Weaving

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD

May 21, 2023

Rogation Sunday

Deuteronomy 11:10-15

Psalm 147:1-13

Romans 8:18-25

Mark 4:26-32

Holy Weaving

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

This past Thursday morning, a faithful little band of parishioners gathered in the Old School Building for Morning Prayer.

We do this every week, but this particular Thursday was different because, in our modest but beautiful way, we were observing one of the great feasts of the church year: Ascension Day.

Set forty days after Easter, on Ascension Day we remember that the Risen Christ entered heaven.

This is one part of our faith that troubles a lot of modern people – a line in the Creed that many of us try to say without giving it too much thought. After all, unlike people two thousand years ago, we have a pretty good idea of what’s up there.

On the other hand, over and over, science has shown that reality is way more complex and downright weirder than we had thought – in the universe things are not always as they seem, and there’s so much we just don’t know.

Anyway, setting aside our modern skepticism, the Ascension is both beautiful and important:

Our brother Jesus – not just his spirit, but his body – has entered heaven.

Among other things, the Ascension reminds us that the here and now – the physical world, all of it, very much including our flesh and blood, is of infinite and eternal value – beloved by God.

This should not come as news to us because God’s love for the world runs through our entire tradition.

At the beginning, God declared the creation to be good – not just good but very good.

And God sent Jesus into the world not to condemn the world but because God loves the world and wants to save it – all of it.

God wants to restore and renew the world – not just once but over and over again.

Many of us have experienced this holy restoration and renewal in our own lives – times when all hope seems to be lost and yet we find unexpected grace and strength and love.

And if we take the time to look around, we can see that God has woven restoration and renewal right into the fabric of creation.

For example, you may remember that about a month ago there was a frightening and destructive wildfire over at Soldier’s Delight, a nature preserve not far from here. The fire forced neighbors to evacuate their homes for a time, a fire that required the skill and courage of many firefighters to extinguish.

There was a lot of initial sadness and concern about the loss of wildlife, but did you see what happened almost immediately? Native plants and grasses began to sprout. God’s renewal and restoration is now well underway.

Just one example of how God has woven restoration and renewal right into the fabric of creation.

Today we are celebrating Rogation Sunday – the name comes from a Latin word meaning “to ask.” On Rogation days, we ask God to bless our land – and we get reminded that we are called not to rule over the earth but to care for it – to be good stewards of all that has been entrusted to us.

God has woven restoration and renewal right into the fabric of creation.

And God invites us to assist with this holy weaving.

And, even when creation has taken a beating by our pollution and neglect, if we do our part as God’s assistant weavers, well, the results are just astonishing.

Like, just a couple of weeks ago, there was a story in the paper that otters have been seen frolicking in the increasingly clean Jones Falls, near Mt. Washington, within the Baltimore city limits.

Otters!

This wonderful return of the otters didn’t just happen, of course – it’s the result of people – including some of our people - fighting the good fight to clean the streams that flow into the falls, to address toxic runoff, to work as God’s assistant weavers, renewing and restoring creation.

The other day, I read about an amazing park in Berlin, Germany that perfectly illustrates this holy partnership between God and us. 

After a once busy rail yard was abandoned, hundreds of species of plants and animals, including many that were endangered, moved right in. This renewal on what must have been heavily polluted land was totally unplanned, which has made it biologically diverse and amazingly successful.

And now, people care for this spontaneous park. They’ve constructed elevated walkways so that visitors can enjoy the beauty of the park without disturbing the plants and animals that thrive there.

God has woven restoration and renewal right into the fabric of creation. And God invites us to assist with this holy weaving.

In my nearly two years here, I seem to have developed a reputation as someone who likes the church to be busy.

I prefer “active,” but I’ll own that.

But when I first realized all that we had packed into today – Rogation Sunday, the Baptism of young Charles Joseph Worthington, the recognition of our graduates (over 20 of them!), and the opportunity for some of our lay leaders to add their signatures to the book that has been signed by leaders of this church stretching all the way back to the 1700’s, and this evening the choir and I are going to Blakehurst to offer a Vespers service – when I realized all that we had packed into today, well, even I thought that maybe we were overdoing it!

But as I reflected on all this wonderful activity, I thought, you know, there is a whole lot of holy weaving going on here at St. Thomas’.

The people of this church have always cared for this land but in recent years we’ve been even more intentional about looking at our environmental impact and taken steps - like planting trees - toward being better stewards – small steps, maybe, but we know that God specializes in starting as small as a mustard seed and growing something amazing.

Baptism is the sacrament of renewal. The way we do it here is very elegant and refined but make no mistake, in the water of Baptism, Charles will go down to the depths and rise again, starting out on a new life with Christ, invited by God to be an assistant weaver, and guided by all of us along the way.

And, whatever their age and no matter what degree they’ve earned, graduates are meant to use their learning not just to better themselves to but to serve others, doing their part, with God’s help, to weave back together what has been ripped apart by suffering, ignorance, and greed.

And music – does anything renew our hearts better than beautiful music sung by people with faith and love and so much talent?

And our leaders – we are incredibly blessed by generous, dedicated, and wise leaders – our leaders have signed up to do some serious weaving here at St. Thomas’ – weaving together our increasingly diverse strands, helping to create an even stronger fabric, strong enough to endure whatever the future may bring.

My goodness – this is a lot – but I hear God speaking through all of it.

Because God loves the world. 

God has woven restoration and renewal right into the fabric of creation. And God invites Charles, and all of us, to assist with this holy weaving.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen.

God's Great Art Project

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD

May 22, 2022

Year C: The Sixth Sunday of Easter – Rogation Sunday

Deuteronomy 11:10-15

Psalm 147:1-13

Romans 8:18-25

Mark 4:26-32

God’s Great Art Project

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Our Alleluia call and response is a reminder that, yes, it is still Easter.

But, today, in addition to continuing to celebrate the Resurrection, we are also observing Rogation Sunday. 

The word “rogation” comes from a Latin word meaning “to ask.”

For many centuries, on rogation days Christians have asked God to bless us with a temperate climate and a bountiful harvest. 

And, in more recent times, rogation days have been opportunities to reflect on the ways we have damaged the earth, to repent of our destructive ways, and to ask God to help us take better care of creation. 

Now, at first, it might seem like Easter and Rogation Sunday don’t have much to do with each other. But that would be a mistake.

The Risen Christ is not a ghost, not some kind of disembodied spiritual being. Actually, that would be much easier to believe, right?

But the truth is both harder to believe and much better news.

The gospels insist that the Risen Christ is still a flesh and blood human being – mysteriously transformed, yes – but, as Thomas saw for himself, still bearing the wounds of the cross – still very much the Jesus that his friends knew and loved.

The Risen Christ is a most powerful sign that God cares about our bodies and loves this physical world.

You know, I assume that God did not have to create anything at all.

I assume that God could have just gone on forever all by God’s Self, perfectly content and at peace.

But, I suspect that the God who is love almost couldn’t help creating the universe – or maybe many universes – almost couldn’t help creating all that we see hear, smell, touch, and taste - and all that we still have no idea about.

I suspect that God almost couldn’t help creating this beautiful planet and all of us.

It’s hard to contain love and creativity, maybe even for God.

And, creation didn’t have to be as beautiful and diverse and complex as it is, right?

I suppose God could have just created in black and white, rather than the riot of color that’s all around us, all the color of the galaxies that are sprinkled through the universe.

I suppose God could have created in straight lines and right angles, rather than the infinite number of shapes and sizes and designs that make up the world.

I suppose God could have been very economical with creation, creating only the bare minimum, only what was absolutely necessary, but instead God is very much like the sower in Jesus’ parable, spreading seeds, always hoping against the odds for new and abundant life.

I suppose God could have made us all the same, instead of the rainbow of colors and cultures that enrich the world and our church, instead of the different personalities with different ideas and beliefs that make life so interesting and, yes, sometimes maddening.

Creation did not have to be as beautiful and diverse and complex as it is, but God is the Great Artist and the world is God’s great art project.

And, so of course God the Artist cares about God’s great art project.

But, there’s another twist to this story:

God invites us to work on the great art project, too.

God invites us to be co-creators, to be assistant artists.

God invites us to see and appreciate God’s art, and, not only that, God wants us to add our own touches, organizing plants into a beautiful garden – mixing colors to paint a beautiful picture – arranging sounds to make beautiful music – carving wood and stone into beautiful sculpture – and, most of all, caring for creation and sharing its bounty with the hungry and the lost.

Now, let’s be honest, considering our rather poor track record in this department, God’s invitation for us to care for creation might seem unwise, at best.

This weekend’s broiling heat is an uncomfortable reminder that we have made a terrible, terrible mess – and, unless we change our ways fast, we face a bleak future indeed.

But, Easter is a reminder that God never gives up on us, a reminder that suffering and death do not get the last word.

God the Great Artist is still at work.

And, one of the true joys of being here at St. Thomas’ is that we don’t have to look hard or far to see plenty of people accepting God’s invitation to work on God’s great art project.

Each week, super-talented volunteers adorn our altar with beautiful floral arrangements. Our fellow parishioners are God’s assistant artists, indeed.

And the co-creators and assistant artists on our Green Team created and tend our pollinator garden, giving us beauty, and feeding lots of buzzing bees and all different kinds of beautiful butterflies.

The Green Team have also seen to it that trees have been planted on two and a half acres across our church property, each of those fragile saplings in their protective tubes is a little art work, a small co-creation with God, a very real way to restore and care for creation.

And then there is our Preschool and Kindergarten.

As most of you probably know by now, the school has entered a time of transition, preparing to say thank you and good-bye to Kristin Morrow who has led our school with so much dedication, skill, and heart – and getting ready to welcome our next director, Nicole Norris, who I am confident will build on our school’s strong foundations, leading us into an exciting future.

You may not know that our school is very much nature-focused.

Just about every day, the teachers and students are outside, exploring our expansive grounds. The children learn in and from creation, probably without even realizing they are learning.

But, it gets better: these children who are so familiar with God’s creation are also co-creators. Just like last year, the kids have been carefully growing plants from seed – plants that are available for us to take home and plant in our gardens.

And our children are also assistant artists. They’ve been using their God-given imaginations, their sense of wonder, and their uninhibited creativity to make some truly beautiful art – work that you can see for yourself in the Parish Hall today.

And so, despite the terrible mess we have made of things, there are reasons to hope.

It is still the Easter Season, the time when we especially remember and celebrate that God raised from the dead the flesh and blood Jesus.

The Risen Christ is a most powerful sign that God cares about our bodies and loves this physical world.

And, today, Rogation Sunday is a reminder that God invites us to be co-creators and assistant artists, playing our part in God’s great art project.

May it be so.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen.