July 22, 2018: May God’s words alone be spoken, may God’s words alone be heard.  Amen.

“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”

How many of you hear that in the gospel today and just want to say “Yes!”  Please… Jesus, give me that sweet rest.  Of course, for extreme extroverts, that part about the “deserted place” likely sends you into a panic attack, but for you, Jesus would say – come into the busy city and allow the distractions to float you away from reality.  For many of us though, that deserted place sounds perfect too.  Either way, I think we all long for rest.

Often we long for this just from the regular day to day of our lives.  Our schedules in this age are insane – we never turn stuff off.  It’s as though we need someone to give us permission to turn it off, or we have to be forced into it.  I have a lay colleague who was saying that for the first time in years, she will be on a cruise, and it won’t have wifi (well, she could have it, but is not going to pay for it) – for 2 and a half days, she will be free of emails, phone calls, and texts.  I think she was downright giddy about it too.  I imagine a few of you are wistfully wishing that was you. 

As for me, after an intensive long marathon at General Convention, not to mention a 14 hour marathon meeting type of day yesterday, I think this invitation is like music to my weary soul “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”  Yes, Jesus…I think I will…okay, in August when I go on vacation exactly 21 days from now, but who’s counting, right?

You see, The General Convention of The Episcopal Church is no vacation – you really need a vacation from this crazy time.  They say down in that town “Keep Austin Weird,” and I am happy to report that The Episcopal Church did our part in that regard. My first few mornings in Austin, I ended up testifying at legislative committee hearings before I had a chance to down a cup of coffee – NOT a good idea, but I managed – likely weirdly.

And caffeine is nearly a necessity, as the days begin early at General Convention and don’t end until late.  But caffeine or not, between sunrise and late night, the Holy Spirit was hard at work alongside all of us.  One of the biggest moments for me “was when the resolution I authored was passed.  It was C060 – Breaking the Episcopal Stained Glass Ceiling, which called for a Task Force to research sexism in The Episcopal Church, and the role it plays in pay equity, status, and gender-based harassment.

As I was not a deputy this time, as I had been in 2015, it was hard to be on the sidelines, not able to testify to the resolution, except while in legislative committee.  I listened to those who could speak on the floor of the House of Deputies– women with whom I had been privileged to work alongside as part of the Special Committee on Sexual Harassment & Exploitation – and – it passed with no objection. The Special Committee authored 24 resolutions, most of which passed, covering everything from domestic violence response training for church leadership to the creation of a Task Force on Women, Truth and Reconciliation to help the church “engage in truth-telling, confession, and reconciliation regarding gender-based discrimination, harassment and violence against women and girls.””[1]  It was a powerful step forward for the church.

Gender was just one of many paths toward the Beloved Community we walked at this Convention – from calling for the development of a more inclusive prayer book to demanding justice for immigrants, from opening the doors of everychurch to same sex marriage to challenging the church to stand up against injustice done to the Palestinian people – the Episcopal Branch of the Jesus Movement was on fire in Austin!

But the most powerful moments of my time at General Convention happened not within the House of Deputies or the House of Bishops, but in the heat of the Texan sun on the Sabbath. 

Sunday, July 8th I attended the Bishops Against Gun Violence “rally to hear from the family of Carmen Schentrup, one of the Parkland shooting victims. Her dad, Philip, spoke about the dark days following the murder at Parkland.  He and his family stood there on the platform in the park, in the heat of the day, bearing witness to their grief, to their daughter’s memory, to God’s love, and to the power of prophetic witness to change a broken world.  We were all deeply affected by what we heard, and the day was not yet over.

We went from that place directly to the Hutto Immigration Detention Facility in Taylor, Texas, about a 45 minute drive from Austin, where women who sought asylum or who crossed the border seeking to migrate here, are detained in a prison run by a private corporation.  It was reported that pieces of paper were seen being moved in the windows while we were there – the women were letting us know that they heard us, and could see us. 

The heat was brutal, and when I started to feel it, I was able to grab water that others had provided.  Having been on the US-Mexico border, and walked the desert where so many cross, I thought how many of them die for lack water, which I am so easily able to obtain when I need it. Our Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Michael Curry took to the podium and declared that, if we want to truly “make America great again,” we must love one another – everyone, no exceptions.  It was inspiring to be able to be among so many who wanted to share this message with the strangers we have so poorly treated among us.

As the service ended, I knew I needed to pray. I went to a spot away from the crowd, and facing the detention center, I knelt in prayer.  The tears just kept coming as my heart reached out to God in anguish for our sin, for these people and their pain, for what has become of this country….And, despite this being a public space filled with people, I was, by the power of the Holy Spirit, able to enter into a private moment with God, a deeply personal experience that left all but the women in that facility behind for a moment, and that has been etched into my soul forever.  As I walked away with all the others, I felt such love for all of them too and hope for the world. 

This entire day was an embodiment of the gospel of love, God’s love, in action.  In fact this entire General Convention was a powerful symbol of this church alive!  It was both uplifting, and draining.  I was exhausted emotionally and physically, but strengthened in spirit and love.”[2]

That is what Jesus understood about living the gospel – that it is powerfully engaging and important work, and… that we will need to rest from our labors if we are ever to have any hope of doing it. Even Jesus went away from time to time to pray and get rest.  But it seems lately that there just isn’t even time to breathe, much less rest. 

It’s funny, as I was working on this sermon on Friday night, I happened to have the news on in the background.  I laughed when I heard the hand off from one news show to another, the anchors were talking about the events that will be hitting us next week, and they were saying “Rest, hydrate, eat your fiber, because the craziness never ends! Whoo – America!” 

And it’s true, right?  I mean, the news lately has been one breaking report after another – it’s hard to keep up.  And these days, there’s a protest nearly every week, every day – all needed – all important…how can we just rest?  Doesn’t God need us to step up?  Well, yes, and no.

If you notice, something happens in this gospel that we all need to pay attention to, or we will struggle in this life to be who we are called to be.  You see, Jesus calls them all to get away, but just as he and his disciples headed over to the Galilean Holiday Inn for a dip in the pool and a nap, everyone got the text that Jesus was on the move, and they followed them. 

It’s almost like all those folks had that app where you can find your friends, and they went and tagged Jesus.  Did Jesus tell them “hey folks, the vacation is canceled?”  No. While the disciples headed off to the hotel bar, Jesus went back outside and continued the work they all had been doing.  This is important, and it was a lesson being lived at General Convention – and throughout our church every single day. 

No – it isn’t that we are all supposed to be Super Jesus – allowing ourselves no rest.  Not at all.  But if you heard what I was saying about General Convention, than you would have also heard that there were many hands at work.  I didn’t need to testify about a resolution I wrote – others were there to proclaim that gospel.  The bishops were not the prophets at the rally they themselves created on gun violence – there was a far more powerful witness to proclaim that gospel.  And while all of us were there in Austin, all over the world, others were back home continuing the work of Jesus in the world – feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and imprisoned, lifting up the poor and outcast, and welcoming the stranger.  You all were here doing that in our community – while I was 1,700 miles away – you were here in this place, and in our neighborhood bearing witness to the love of God.

What a powerful gospel message to us in a time when it seems that every single day injustice raises up another wall of exclusion and oppression, and we must once again take to the streets to tear it down and build a bridge.  These past couple of years have seemed like a perpetual run of tidal waves rolling toward us, and it can seem we will drown from the rapidity with which it comes. And yet, the message to us today is that we must take our rest – we must allow Jesus to give us respite from our work. That is why we gather here – that is what the Sabbath is for.  And while we rest, the work does not go undone – we don’t have to do it all.

Coming to church isn’t one more task we have to do in an already busy week.  Coming to church is what we do to ensure we CAN do all we have to do. 

Because here, Jesus calls us to rest in the company of others.

Here Jesus nourishes us at this table in the Eucharist. 

Here we come that we might then rejoin Him in the work He continued to do while we rested. 

Here we also come to fully know that the life we live, the time in which we serve – it is a Holy time – as Holy as any other. 

I remember a friend of mine from my home parish, who is now diseased, once said to me “I don’t see the need for reading scripture – that stuff happened 2,000 years ago.”  I told him that “stuff” was happening now!  These stories are not only relevant to us today, the are OUR story in this time.

On the final day of General Convention, the President of the House, the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings commended the work done in that place and read this quote by the author, Annie Dillard.  “There is no less holiness at this time- as you are reading this- than there was on the day the Red Sea parted, or that day in the 30th year, in the 4th month, on the 5th day of the month as Ezekiel was a captive by the river Cheban, when the heavens opened and he saw visions of god. There is no whit less enlightenment under the tree at the end of your street than there was under Buddha’s bo tree…. In any instant the sacred may wipe you with its finger. In any instant the bush may flare, your feet may rise, or you may see a bunch of souls in trees.”[3]

This is indeed a holy time, and at any instant, the sacred may touch you, alight in front of you, lift your feet to go…so take your rest here.  Get strength for the journey here.  Others are at work in this time, at this very moment, being the body of Christ and healing the wounded of the world. 

Rest now, in this place, at this table…for tomorrow – you will be who you are – Christ alive in the world.  You will see the lost and the hurting and, as he did, feel compassion for them, and love them as he commanded.  You will do that – while others take their rest.   

So, take your Sabbath rest today… for we live in a holy time in need of prophets, in need of the gospel message of love – embodied in you!   

Amen.

For the audio from the 10:30am service, subscribe to our iTunes Sermon Podcast, or click   here:

[1]From Facebook post dated July 11, 2018.

[2]Some parts from a Facebook post dated July 9, 2018.

[3]Annie_Dillard,For the Time Being

The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
July 22, 2018
The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost
1st Reading – Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 23
2nd Reading – Ephesians 2:11-22
Gospel – Mark 6:30-34, 53-56