Beloved in Christ, it has been a great joy to gather with you over these past three days. We have talked and listened, sung and prayed. We have voted and voted and voted and voted, and we have had time for fun and food and some holy foolishness. We have gathered, as the church, together to proclaim our oneness in Christ, a unity that is ours in baptism and to share the sacred meal that the Lord himself has prepared for us. Now I am mindful that many of you are joining us from different churches this morning. We are so glad that you are here for this closing eucharist. And some of you have brought your children. They will be joining us soon. But for now, they are involved in a wonderful children's program being coordinated by the staff of St. James'. So again, I want to thank our host churches, St. James', St. Mark's, St. Alexis and St. Columb's for the splendid hospitality. You have been marvelous hosts to us. And to our Council Co-chairs, Del Harrington and Sheri Cox, and to our liturgical and logistical coordinators, Bryan Owen, David O'Steen, Mike Flannes; and to so many of you who have given so much, we give you our heartfelt thanks.
I have said to you on many occasions, and several times this weekend, that, in some ways I see myself as a transitional figure in a church going through enormous change. But I have also said to you, this church, that the wider cultural changes taking place around and among us are so dramatic, that they dwarf any particular manifestation of change that we see in our own church. Though it is slightly delayed in arriving, here in the deep South, the loss of cultural support for the church, even the rise of cultural antagonism is spreading rapidly. We can no longer assume that everyone has even a bare minimum of information about the Christian faith. Nor can we assume that those who do, have anything remotely resembling positive associations with church. For you see, too many people through too many years have been, let us confess, abused and betrayed by the church. And those terrible stereotypes of clergy in our popular media today do not arise out of thin air. In the face of this enormous change, where once we were linked in so many ways to the strength and authority of the popular culture, in the midst of this change, when we are seeing not simply a loss of that support but in so many cases an outright antagonism toward, we are tempted to respond in one of two ways: To retreat into our own ecclesiastical ghetto, thereby becoming more rigid, more restrictive, more narrow and giving credence to the stereotypical cultural caricature or to do the exact opposite. In an attempt to repudiate the stereotype, we renounce any claim to ultimate truth by making all things relative, and thus lose our soul in the process.
Now our theme of this year's Council has been, "The Spirit (or the soul) of Mission." It is an effort to have us look again at why we do what we do. To understand who we are and why we do what we do, the "Spirit of Mission" is to point us, I think, toward a life giving and holy and loving engagement with a confused, skeptical and even hostile world.
I'm about to change my locale. Take a break. (there is a pause as Bishop moves from the pulpit to small table at the side of stage)
Words that we use over and over again around this primal element of water: "We thank you," we say, "for the gift of water." (pour water) Over it, the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation. And so the story begins. God creates for God's sake. The creator longs to be in relationship with the created. We pray, "In your infinite love, you made us for yourself." It begins with such hope and joy and relationship. But you know how the story continues. Rebellion, murder, separation, the relationship is broken, destroyed and God weeps. And God sets out to restore that relationship. "Again and again, you called us to return. Through prophets and sages, you revealed your righteous law "... "Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God. But we would not.
And then he was among us, Immanuel, God with us. God came among us to heal, to set free, to proclaim good news to the poor, to usher in the Kingdom of God, the reign of God. (pour water) "In it your Son, Jesus, received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us through his death and resurrection from the bondage of sin to everlasting life. He came among us and he called others. The hymn says "Such happy, simple fisher folk" to follow him, to learn, to do, to be his body, the body of Christ. (pour water) "We thank you, Father, for the water of baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it, we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit."
Sisters and brothers, we do what we do because we have been loved by God, called by God, and claimed by God in our baptisms. God has claimed us, to die so that we might live for God. Not because we are wise by human standards, St. Paul writes, not because we were powerful, not because we were of noble birth, not because we were democrat or republican (Paul didn't say that). In fact, writes Paul, God seems to prefer the weak, the broken and the battered. And in our baptisms, God has claimed us, and we are marked as Christ's own forever.
But let's be clear, in our baptisms God doesn't make us better. Baptism doesn't make us better people. Baptism makes us branded people. Marked with the sign of the cross ... indelibly marked on our forehead. There's a great scene from one of Graham Green's novels, I think it was; I've lost the reference. In the back seat of the car is a preacher, completely drunk, saying all kinds of gobbledygook. And turning to him is one of his friends, who from the front seat, begins to wave a finger at him, "Look at you! You are a disgrace. You are a worthless human being. Whatever got you into thinking you could be a preacher?" The preacher shifts around and tries to straighten himself up and said, "Why? Hell, I was called."
Loved by God, called by God, claimed by God. "Contented, peaceful fisherman before they ever knew the peace of God that filled their hearts brimful and broke them, too." We do what we do because we have been loved by God, claimed by God and there will burdens to bear, sisters and brothers, and prices to be paid. And the journey will be very difficult at times. So God has given us food and drink for the journey and a community of imperfect, and sometimes very troublesome, companions.
So, at each baptism we are asked,
"Will you continue in the apostles' teachings and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers?" You know the response ...
"I will, with God's help."
And because we are not nearly the people we wish to be, we will always fall short.
"Will you persevere, sisters and brothers, in resisting evil, and whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?" ...
"I will, with God's help."
And this thing about Christ, crucified. The message of the cross that is a stumbling block for some and foolishness for others;
"Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ?" ...
"I will, with God's help."
And realizing just who it is that has claimed us, and has called us to meet him in the world;
"Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?" ...
"I will, with God's help."
And recognizing the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has moral, societal and political implications, and moving out from that claim on our life, when God said, "I love you, I call you, I claim you, now go.
"Will you strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being?" ...
"I will, with God's help."
To say yes to God, to live into God's claim on our lives, is to open ourselves to a new reality that, quite frankly will forever change us. And so within each baptism, we pray. Give us, O Lord, "an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, the spirit to know and love you and the gift of joy and wonder at all your works."
In a moment we are being fed by God and I have asked that we have water in the midst of us because this is why we do what we do. At each communion station, there will be a bit of water, and if you so desire, the person who is there handling the water will make a sign of the cross, over the cross that has already branded you, and will say these words, "Remember your baptism into Christ Jesus."
Bless this water, almighty God, by the power of your Holy Spirit, that those who have been loved, called, and claimed by God in their baptisms, may continue in the risen life of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen
