St. Blogory's: the internet café at St. Gregory's Episcopal Church, Deerfield, IL

No Room in the Inn - Christmas Day sermon by the Rev. Dr. Meredith Woods Potter

God prepared the world to receive an unimaginable and precious gift. God prepared the world to receive the gift of God's own love. God prepared the world to receive the Christ child. But when it came time for the world to receive God's gift, there was no room in the inn!

There should have been room, for the people of Israel had had plenty of time to get ready. For generations the prophets had foretold the coming of the Messiah. In this morning's first lesson, the prophet Isaiah provides what has become the most familiar of those prophecies. Isaiah had seen many disasters in his world - disasters which he knew were well deserved. But Isaiah had also received a vision from the Lord, in which he had become convinced that God's steadfast love would prevail. And so Isaiah accepted God's call to prophesy to the people of Israel that their burdens would soon be lifted and that the time had already come to be filled with joy. The Christian world has come to ascribe Isaiah's words to the Christ child - to the baby Jesus:

"For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grown continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore."

Isaiah told the people of Israel that they could anticipate with joy the gift that God was preparing for them. When it came time for this child to be born, there would be no room in the inn, but Isaiah found room in his heart to believe in God's vision and to proclaim that vision of God's gift of love to the people of Israel.

There was a young teenager named Mary. It was the custom in her time and culture for young people to have marriages arranged for them by their parents. And so Mary had become "betrothed" - had become engaged - to a man, whom she probably had not yet even met, much less dated. Then one day she received a very unexpected guest with some very unexpected news. An angel visited Mary and told her that she had been chosen by God to bear God's son - God's gift of the love to humankind. Well, Mary's response was understandable. She was flabbergasted! She couldn't believe it. After all, she wasn't yet married. She and her husband-to-be hadn't even yet met! But the angel told her that she had been chosen to participate in God's miraculous gift, and Mary responded without hesitation. She would do what God had asked her to do. She would participate in God's gift of love to the world. She would bear God's son. When it came time for the child to be born, there would be no room in the inn, but Mary found room in her heart for acceptance and obedience to God's plan for her life and for the world.

Joseph was the carpenter's son, who had become engaged to Mary. Perhaps the most notable thing we are told about Joseph was that he could trace his ancestry back to Zerubbabel - and beyond him to King David. But in addition to his important heritage, Joseph was a devout Jew and so he tried to live by Jewish law. And according to Jewish law, if a man discovered that his bride was not a virgin, he was not obliged to keep the marriage contract, and the bride-to-be would then be ostracized from the community. When Joseph learned that Mary was to bear a child, he had a very difficult decision to make. Under Jewish law, Joseph was no longer obligated to marry her; he was no longer required to have anything to do with her. But Joseph chose to continue the marriage plans and stay with Mary; Joseph chose to participate in God's gift of love to the world. When it came time for the child to be born, there would be no room in the inn, but Joseph found room in his heart for courage to do the right thing - to defy Jewish law, and participate in God's plan for his life and the world.

In today's Gospel an angel appears to a group of shepherds and tells them that the long-awaited Messiah has now been born. The angel announces:

"I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord."

But when the angel went on to tell the shepherds that they would find the "child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger" they began to think that the angel's message was absurd. They had expected the long-awaited messiah to be a king - to be born in splendor, surrounded by royalty. How could it be that the Messiah had been wrapped in bands of cloth and was born in a manager? And yet the shepherds, filled with both awe and curiosity, decided to go to Bethlehem to see for themselves. And when they saw the child, they began to glorify and praise "God for all that they had heard and seen." When it had come time for the child to be born, the shepherds discovered that there had been no room in the inn, but they found room in their hearts to believe in the Messiah's birth and to glorify and praise God for God's gift of love to them and to the world.

Today we celebrate these events. We celebrate God's gift of love to the world. We celebrate Christmas. And yet we are surrounded by tumultuous times that are not unlike what Isaiah faced in his day. The world is in turmoil. Nations are rising up against nations. There is poverty and hunger, disease and famine. The world is in a global economic and energy crisis. And for most parts of the world there is no room for Jesus.

When it came time for the Christ child to be born, there had been no room in the inn, but this morning may we find room in our hearts for Jesus - room in our hearts: to see God's vision for the world and to proclaim it - as did Isaiah; to hear and obey God's plan for our lives - as did Mary; to have courage to do the right thing , even if it means going against society - as did Joseph; to join the shepherds of old in awe and wonder for God's wonderful and wondrous gift of love for the world. And so on this Christmas morning, let us proclaim with the multitude of the heavenly host: Glory to God in the highest. Christ Jesus is born!!

“Sing!” by the Very Rev. Bill Roberts

"Sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the whole earth. Sing to the Lord and bless his Name."

Tonight our Psalm commands us to sing! Three times we are commanded to sing: "Sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the whole earth. Sing to the Lord and bless his Name."

And so tonight we sing! And just as we have been commanded to sing three times, in our opening hymn we commanded the angels to sing three times: "Sing choirs of angels, sing in exultation, sing all ye citizens of heaven above." And later, in our closing song, we will command heaven and nature to sing three times: "and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven, and heaven and nature sing."

Tonight we sing, because tonight heaven and nature meet in a cradle!

The Christmas story has a simple beginning: an emperor sends out a decree, a man and a woman journey to Bethlehem, and shepherds watch over their sheep. Nothing unusual, nothing out of the ordinary, just the normal day-to-day activities of governing, traveling, and working. If we had been there, we could have seen Augustus governing, as he hands his decree to a courier; we could have seen Mary and Joseph traveling from Nazareth; we could have seen the shepherds working on the hills above Bethlehem. But there was an entirely other kind of governing, traveling, and working which we could not have seen, an entirely other kind of governing, traveling, and working which the emperor, the young couple, and the shepherds could not have seen. But suddenly, that invisible governing, traveling, and working is revealed in the glory of angels.

We, too, spend our lives in the normal day-to-day activities of governing, traveling, and working. And in times like these, times of great change and anxiety, when our very capacity to govern, travel, and work seems precarious and uncertain, it can be hard to sing to the Lord at all, much less sing to the Lord a new song. Unless. Unless we remember that other kind of governing, traveling, and working which we cannot see.

So tonight I want to let heaven and nature sing by giving you two glimpses into God's invisible governing, traveling, and working.

The first glimpse is a glimpse into heaven.

The BBC recently published an article on the latest findings about our universe. It turns out that "normal matter," the stuff we can see and touch, makes up only about 5% of the universe. So when we say in the Nicene Creed that we believe in God, "the maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen," the "seen" part is only about 5%! Another 25% is called "dark matter," because we can't see it directly; we can only "see" the effects its gravity has on "normal matter." The rest of the universe― 70% of the universe― is empty: it doesn't have "normal matter" or "dark matter." But yet it is filled with what astronomers call "dark energy," and that's a good thing, because without "dark energy" the gravity of "dark matter" would cause the Universe to collapse in on itself. But "dark energy" is an anti-gravity force which keeps the Universe expanding by "stretching space."

So sing to the Lord a new song, for tonight the God "through whom all things were made," both "seen and unseen," is seen in a manger!

The second glimpse into God's invisible governing, traveling, and working is a glimpse into nature.

Toward the end of the Christmas story, St. Luke tells us that "Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart."

Steven Pinker, in his bestselling book How the Mind Works, describes our amazing capacity to treasure and ponder words.

When we begin to express our thoughts, whether by speaking or writing, we have, on average, about 10 choices for the first word, 10 choices for the second word, 10 choices for the third word, and so on. So in order to say even a simple three-word sentence, our minds sort through 10 times 10 times 10, or a thousand, different possibilities. Which means that to produce a sentence of twenty words, our minds sort through a hundred million trillion different possibilities! Do you have any idea how big a hundred million trillion is?! Neither do I! but apparently it's a hundred times the number of seconds since God created the universe! Think of the number of words we speak in a single conversation; or write in a single paragraph.

So sing to the Lord a new song, because even a hundred million trillion words are inadequate, for tonight, in Bethlehem, the Word was made flesh!

There is yet another invisible power in the universe, of which astronomy and psychology know nothing, a power greater than all the "dark energy" and all the "dark matter" in the universe, and that is the power of love. And it is that invisible love which we glimpse tonight in Bethlehem, that invisible love by which the Father governs, the Son travels, and the Spirit works.

No matter how precarious and uncertain our lives may be, we need to remember these words from St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians: "Glory to God, whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine."

Now that's something to sing about!

Amen.

“Who are you?” by the Very Rev. Bill Roberts

+ In the Love of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

If a screenwriter of courtroom dramas wanted to adapt this morning's Gospel for television, she might begin this way:

"In the criminal justice system, religious-based offenses are considered especially heinous. The dedicated priests and Levites of the Temple prosecute these cases with great zeal. These are their stories." (Bum-bum)

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. This is the testimony given by John when the Judean authorities sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Who are you?' He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, 'I am not the Messiah.' And they asked him, 'What then? Are you Elijah?' He said, 'I am not.' 'Are you the prophet?' He answered, 'No.'"

Let's stop there and notice how well this script is written. The investigating priests and Levites are single-minded. "Who are you?" is their unrelenting question. And in response, as John gets angrier and angrier with his interrogators, his responses get increasingly short and hostile: "I am not the Messiah." "I am not." "No!" But the badgering continues: "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

Finally the intensity of the interrogation pays off. And as soon as John confesses, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness," the priests and Levites pounce: "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?"

It's a pretty clever line of questioning. The priests and the Levites have him now. You see, if John had been the Messiah, the great warrior like King David who would bring victory over the Roman armies, then John would have had the authority to baptize. Or if he had been Elijah, the prophet who had been carried up into heaven by a chariot of fire until his return before the great Day of the Lord, then John would have had the authority to baptize. Or if he had been "the prophet," the prophet like Moses who would again lead God's people, then John would have had the authority to baptize.

But suddenly John turns the tables on them. He admits, "I baptize with water." But then John gets his first chance to "testify to the light." And this is his testimony: "Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal."

John's authority to baptize doesn't come from himself; it comes from someone the priests and Levites don't even know, someone who is coming. And what's more, says John, "I am not worthy even to untie his sandals." To untie someone's sandals was so humiliating and abject, that even a slave couldn't be required to untie his master's sandals. And yet, says John, I'm not worthy to do the most menial thing for him. Are the priests and Levites concerned about authority? Then they'd better consider the authority of the one whom they do not even know, the one who is coming, the one whose authority far exceeds the authority of David or Elijah or Moses!

And with that, the television screen fades to black, and the credits start rolling.

This morning's Gospel begins with a simple sentence: "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." It's a simple sentence which could be said about every baptized Christian. "There was a man sent from God, whose name was _____ [member of congregation says his name]." "There was a woman sent from God, whose name was _____ [member of congregation says her name]." "There was a girl sent from God, whose name was _____ [member of congregation says her name]." "There was a boy sent from God, whose name was _____ [member of congregation says his name]."

Just like John, we are all "sent from God." And just as the priests and Levites asked John, "Who are you?" people also ask us, every day, "Who are you?" Oh, they may not literally ask, "Who are you?" and they may never consciously wonder, "Who are you?" but that's the question we answer every time we do something, or fail to do something; it's the question we answer every time we say something, or fail to say something. In the musical Les Misérables, "Who are you?" is the question Inspector Javert keeps asking the fugitive Jean Val Jean, and, more importantly, it's the question Jean Val Jean asks himself, "Who am I?"

("Who am I?" is a question our Governor hasn't asked himself in a long time.)

In this morning's Gospel, John not only knows who he is; he also knows who he isn't. He knows he isn't the Messiah, he knows he isn't Elijah, and he knows he isn't "the Prophet."

This past Monday we had our first Youth Confirmation Class, and one of the students asked an excellent question: "Why would I want to be like Jesus when I want to be myself?" Her question reminded me of a wonderful Hasidic story that Rabbi Zusha used to tell about himself: "At the end of my life I will not be asked, 'Why weren't you like Abraham?' or 'Why weren't you like Moses?' or 'Why weren't you like David?' Rather, I will be asked, 'Why weren't you like Zusha?'"

Like John, each of us is sent from God to be the person God created us to be― and only that person. And like John, the only way we will ever be able to answer people when they ask us, "Who are you?" is if we have already answered the question "Who am I?" John's answer was, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord.'"

What's your answer?

Rector’s Newsletter

Dearly Beloved,

Let's make this Blessed Advent a Blessed AddNet!

Bishop Jeffrey Lee is asking every Episcopalian in our Diocese to buy one Mosquito Net before Christmas.

Each day, 3000 children under age 5 die from malaria. That's about one child every 30 seconds.

If every Episcopalian in the Diocese of Chicago donates a net, we will be able to save 40,000 lives.

The nets we provide, through Episcopal Relief and Development and other organizations (www.netsforlifeafrica.org) are Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets [LLINs], treated to be effective for 4-5 years. Each net is made in Africa to facilitate delivery, and comes with local training to insure they are used properly. The World Health Organization [WHO] endorses LLINs as part of a Global Malaria Program, and you can find their position statement by clicking here.

Deacon Dennis Lietz and the other diocesan deacons have been commissioned by the Bishop to take the lead in organizing this effort as part of their vocational responsibility to "serve all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely," and "to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world" [The Book of Common Prayer, page 543]. Please visit his display in Founders Hall on these next two Sundays in Advent, and make a donation of at least one $12 net in honor of a family member, or friend, or colleague, or neighbor, or teacher. Or perhaps for someone on your Christmas list. You'll receive a beautiful card to let your special person know about your donation.

Troop Support Ministry Connection

Alec Meade, one of the soldiers for whom we pray every Sunday and Wednesday at our services, is the son Liz Meade, the deacon in charge of our overall diocesan Nets for Life endeavor, and a member of St. Charles' Episcopal Church in St. Charles. She sent me this update, and gave me permission to pass it on to you:

"Alec went in March 2008, and was scheduled to be home in June 2009, but he says there's a good possibility they'll return in March. He's doing remarkably well, though he calls home when he's feeling low.

"He lost his favorite Staff Sergeant a few months ago when they were on patrol (IED) and that was hard on him, as he had carried Ron's body back to the Humvee. He was like a father to him. With God's grace, he went to the memorial service (he hadn't wanted to) and bumped into a man who had been his theology teacher in high school, and who is now a chaplain in the reserves and serving in Iraq. He said that bumping into Father Paul on that day, in a country as big as Iraq, was clearly a sign of God's protection and grace. (We agreed!)"

Master Plan Update

At all three services last Sunday parishioners received a "Member Input Letter," and copies will be mailed this week to those who weren't in Church. Additional copies are available on the table opposite the Parish Office. In short, we want to know what our members think about our current and future building needs because the Master Plan needs to reflect not the thinking of the Master Plan Committee but the thinking of our entire parish family.

As we continue to gather information from every parishioner and household, the Master Plan Committee will also be interviewing the leaders of our ministries and organizations to assess the adequacy of our offices, classrooms, and other spaces.

This information gathering phase will end on Sunday, December 21, so please let us hear from you by then. And watch the Blog for more updates and news.

Faithfully yours,

 

"We are ambassadors for Christ, God appealing to the world through us."                                                                      2 Corinthians 5:20

First Master Plan Committee Meeting

Our first meeting began with introductions around the table, so that Bob Nickola and Doug Lasch, who are the two longest-serving principals of JNA Architects, could begin to know the members of our Committee.

Next, Bob outlined the work that lies ahead of us, especially the crucial work of gathering parishioners' ideas about our church building's current and future needs.  The Committee will soon be contacting staff, leaders of our ministries, and every household for suggestions and comments.

Doug then presented draft drawings of our grounds, basement, and first and second floors, and asked us to identify each room and space by the names we commonly call them. He will perfect and distribute these drawings for our use in describing how these rooms and spaces might be renovated or restructured for mission and ministry.

Beginning tomorrow, mechanical and electric engineers will begin surveying our building.

In short, the main task during this initial phase will be to "understand the building and understand our programs."

Rector’s Newsletter

Dearly Beloved,

Tonight our new Master Plan Committee will hold its first meeting. The Committee is well balanced, with long-term and new members, women and men, younger and older, and members who represent all of our ministries, from Altar Guild to Youth:

Julie Ann Ariano, Harry Davis, David Schaper, Donna Shelton, Sarah Snyder, Brian Stephens-Hotopp, Jim Stone, Sybil Ten Eyck, Bonnie Travis, Dave Wille, and me.

As Nuala Kurokawa announced at our Sunday services on November 16, the Vestry had approved on the previous Tuesday an Action Plan to invite an architectural firm to help us develop a full Master Plan for the entire church building, including the nave and sanctuary. For more background information, please see the new Category on our Blog titled "Master Plan."

The primary catalyst for developing a Master Plan was the Vestry's prior decision to bring before the Parish a plan for the optimal placement of our new organ. The discussion at the Quarterly Meeting of the Parish on October 19, and subsequent conversations afterward, made it clear that our parishioners favored a full Master Plan over a limited one. There were two main reasons. First, there was a desire to develop a plan both for addressing infrastructural needs (boilers, restrooms, and wiring) and for improving the quality of parish life (main entrance, kitchen, and second-floor accessibility). Second, the savings in dollars and time by combining the organ project with our long-standing aspiration to have a comprehensive blueprint for the whole building.

The question then arose: how to fund the development of the Master Plan? Fortunately, several parishioners had contributed money over the years for the purpose of purchasing a new organ. When the old organ was destroyed by lightning, our Episcopal Church Insurance Company replacement policy paid for our new organ. With the organ itself paid for, these parishioners were asked whether they would be willing to use a substantial percentage of their Designated Funds up to the guaranteed-not-to-exceed cost of developing a full Master Plan. The response was unanimous.

With their crucial support, the Vestry approved the development of the full Master Plan.

In addition to our meeting tonight, the Master Plan Committee will meet from 7:30 to 9:30 pm on the following Tuesdays: January 6 and 27, February 17, and March 17.

For updates on the Committee's work, subscribe to our Blog, or add it to your Favorites, or go to our Website and click on Visit St. Blogory's, our internet cafe.

Attention all 4^th through 8^th graders! On Sunday, December 14, Gretchen Bayer will introduce a new skit to be performed in the Spring (an encore to last year's Warm Fuzzy skit).

If you are interested in participating, please attend Church School that day, usual time and place.

Giving Campaign Update

We have now received 90 pledges, including 8 from first-time pledgers, totaling $350,341. This represents almost 78% of our $450,000 goal. Follow-up calls have begun, and if you haven't yet pledged, please mail or bring your pledge card to the Church.

 

Our Thanksgiving Day service was magnificent. The Altar was adorned with a beautiful cornucopia of vegetables and flowers, bales of hay and pumpkins. The chancel quartet sang a glorious anthem. And there were two special celebrations as well: John and Debbie Welker's 34^th anniversary and our Piper, Peter Duffield, announced that this was his first Thanksgiving as an American citizen!

Faithfully yours,

"We are ambassadors for Christ, God appealing to the world through us."                                                              2 Corinthians 5:20