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Sermon at The Church of
the Holy Apostles, New York City
January 28, 2007
The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year C
Given on the occasion of the Annual Meeting of the Parish
The Reverend William A. Greenlaw, Ph.D., Rector
Jeremiah 1: 4 - 10
Psalm 71
1 Corinthians 14: 12b - 20
Luke 4: 21 - 32
In the gospel lesson we have just heard, we pick up on the second
part of a single story that was begun last week. You may remember
that it is very early in the gospel according to Luke. Jesus has
just been baptized and had his temptation experience. In one of
the first public acts of Jesus' ministry, Jesus visits his
hometown of Nazareth. It is the sabbath, and Jesus visits the
synagogue, as was his custom. As an honored guest in the
synagogue, it was natural to ask Jesus to read from the prophets,
after a selection from the Torah had been read. And as we heard
last week, Jesus finds the words of Isaiah which say: “The spirit
of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good
news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the
captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed
go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Having
finished the reading, Jesus sits down and all eyes are upon
him--and this is where our lesson for today picks up: “Today this
scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And we read in the
next half verse that the congregation spoke well of him; they were
amazed at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.
The beauty of those words and their familiarity conjure
up a feeling of comfort and reassurance. But when Jesus’ hearers
grasp that he actually means what those words are saying, there is
a dramatic shift in our gospel. A dawning takes place in those
people in Nazareth. It happens in but one verse. In the first half we have the “gracious
words.” In the second half, we have, “is this not Joseph’s
son?”—which being translated means the pastoral is great. But
when Jesus turns prophetic, he barely escapes their wrath with his
life.
Now I want to say on this Annual Meeting Sunday, that
at least in my view, the most astonishing, most wonderful thing
about the Church of the Holy Apostles, is that this parish takes
those “gracious words” seriously. Absolutely. But we also
take the next step as well. We make the connection.
The gospel, in other words, is
supposed to be lived out as well as proclaimed. We don’t
hear about the gospel imperative to feed the poor and applaud
modest efforts to do that elsewhere. We take on the task right
here, even this sacred duty in the heart of our sacred space,
fully realizing we will be changed in so doing. What we
may not have realized is that in so doing we would be given our
life in an abundance we could scarcely dream of before.
And this is one parish that not only hears the gospel
mandate that we are all sisters and brothers in Christ not
as some lofty ideal for another time and another place, but that
this ideal is something we are called to live out in every aspect
of our lives—and of our church. And what has marked this last
year in particular is a whole new dimension of that calling and
witness. No longer is Holy Apostles that place with the soup
kitchen that dwarfs all others while in other respects being a
small parish doing its thing in
Chelsea. No, Holy Apostles
is that parish that, after our last General Convention last June,
took out a full page ad in the Episcopal New Yorker,
printing a unanimous vestry resolution supported by all our parish
clergy, deploring the actions of our bishops in votes they took
which in our view temporized their and our commitment to
inclusivity in our church. Never, at least in my 35 years as a
priest in the Diocese of New York, has such a thing happened.
And then, Wake Up, entirely separate and independent of
Holy Apostles, was born out of the vision of lay and clergy
members of this parish. And Wake Up, most of your clergy and lay
delegates to our own diocesan convention, and many others, many of
them prominent and influential, sponsored two resolutions at our
Diocesan Convention this past November.
The debate and discussions were absolutely passionate,
but they were also civil, and carried on in an atmosphere of
respect and of maintaining communion with one another. Passed
almost unanimously was a reaffirmation of our diocesan commitment
to inclusivity in all our life. And very narrowly defeated was a
resolution asking our bishop and the Standing Committee of the
diocese to adhere to this policy in affirming elections of bishops
in other dioceses in spite of the General Convention-requested
moratorium.. And Holy Apostles was very visible, front and
center, in all of this.
It has felt painful and awkward to feel a sense
of strain with our bishops, perhaps especially with the bishop
that has been so close to Holy Apostles, who after all came
from Holy Apostles and who was ordained a priest, presented by
me, in this very space to Bishop Paul Moore, our own Cathy Roskam.
I want to quickly mention two things that give me at
least a small measure of hope. One is that no one can doubt
Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori in her commitment to
inclusivity in this church. Her meeting with the Primates of the
Anglican Communion in Tanzania next month is hugely important—and
the dye may well be cast there in terms of the future of the
Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church’s role within it.
When, not if, she feels it time that the Episcopal Church be true
to its own vision, I am confident our bishops will be with her.
The second thing I want to say is that Mark Sisk is
still the Bishop of New York, he is still our bishop and we are a
parish of this diocese, just as all your clergy are priests of
this diocese. At our invitation, Bishop Sisk is coming to Holy
Apostles on Tuesday evening, March 6. He will celebrate the
eucharist and healing service at 6:15 in the south chapel, and we
will have an open forum with him at approximately 7 p.m. in
Mission House 1.
Bishop Sisk wants and indeed needs to hear from us, to
hear the passions, hurts, and, yes, anger that is present here.
He needs to hear. He needs to listen. He wants to be engaged
with us—in communion with each other and with mutual respect. I
don’t know how much minds may be changed, or how events between
now and then may affect our discussion. But I do believe it is
important for us to have this meeting, to be in open and honest
conversation with our bishop, and I hope and pray as many of you
as can will attend that evening, and that you will feel empowered
to speak of the faith and commitments you hold so dear.
I want to return for a few moments now to the Holy
Apostles Soup Kitchen. We marked our 24th year of
service, with 285,763 meals served this year, closing in on 6
million meals since our founding. This past Thursday, we served
no fewer than 1,442 meals. Now I know statistics like these can
make us glaze us all over very easily. To better take in what
happened last Thursday, look around you. On an average Sunday
last year, there were 106 persons in church. Imagine serving
everyone here a hearty and substantial lunch, with everything
being provided from our own kitchen.
But then imagine that in one serving day encompassing a
little over two hours, that more than 13 congregations this size
were fed, in one continuous flow, all hearty and substantial
meals, all prepared here. And served with incredible grace and
friendliness and dignity by a wonderful corps of volunteers and
staff.
Now I should be fair. That was Thursday. On an
average day, only a bit more than 10 congregations this size are
fed. Every weekday. All year long. Never a day missed. Never a
person turned away. It is and remains astonishing beyond measure.
I know I got the attention of some of you last November
when in a sermon I alluded to the financial situation of the soup
kitchen. Thank God we have been able to establish a modest
reserve, because times have indeed been tough. Hunger is old
news. All too many foundations want to fund a program for a few
years and then move on. Or, they want measurable, quantifiable
“outcomes,” by tracking people helped to get off the line and
seeing they stay off the line—something we have neither the means
nor the resources to do, and so we work with other organizations
to accomplish that most worthy goal. Another major foundation is
going out of business. Individuals have had so many natural
disasters competing for charitable dollars. It has been a
difficult time.
We have redoubled our efforts in these past months to
find new sources of income and to upgrade existing sources. I
want especially to thank parishioners John Grammer and Michael
Gilligan who have introduced us to several new funding sources or
reconnected us with others. Neville Hughes and all of us working
in development have been working very long hours to meet the
challenges we face.
The vestry passed a 2007 soup kitchen budget in
November with a daunting shortfall in it, but I am cautiously
optimistic that we can go a long way toward overcoming that in
moving toward a more secure future. And thank God for that
reserve.
2007 is the 25th anniversary year of the
Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, and we are planning a variety of ways
to use our remarkable history as a way of stabilizing our future
as well as making plenty of noise about the continuing scourge of
hunger in our midst. We hope our Presiding Bishop Katharine will
be able to make an appearance at some point in our commemorative
activities.
Turning to our parish life, in countless ways and due
to the work of many persons and the continuing grace of God, I
believe we had a good year in 2006, and we look to more of the
same in 2007. The “Report to the Parish” is worth an in-depth
read.
I want to salute the warden and vestry members whose
terms are expiring and who have done so much for Holy Apostles.
Richard Longinetti has given distinguished service as warden and
treasurer—and as an assistant volunteer coordinator every Thursday
and Friday at the Soup Kitchen. Happily, Richard is running one
more time for warden. Denise Hibay has served a full term and is
running again for vestry. Chris McFadden and Cynthia Rock are
both retiring after three year terms, and Jeffrey Penn is stepping
down, as he must, after two three year terms. Thank you all.
Just this past week, we had two requiem eucharists for
longtime parishioners. Arthur Williams came to Holy Apostles in
1985, and he was a vestry member, a warden, and contributed so
very much to our life. Betty Klein came to us some time after
that, but she also was such a gracious part of our community and
touched a great many people as well. She had moved to the
Southwest a few years ago, but this past Thursday we had a chance
to remember her and give thanks for her life.
Finally, a very brief personal note: Being both rector
of this parish and executive director of the Holy Apostles Soup
Kitchen is kind of like having a tiger, or perhaps at times, two
tigers, by the tail. Words to describe the ride are at different
times, exhilarating, exciting, richly satisfying, and often very
exhausting and even draining. I am deeply grateful to the vestry
for approving another sabbatical leave. Using both sabbatical
and accrued vacation time, I will be away from just after Easter
until early August, and again for about six weeks a little over a
year from now. The spiritual regeneration and rest, as well as
extended new and different travel and learning experiences, will
enable me to continue to give you my very best in the challenging
days ahead.
I still believe with all my heart that I am blessed and
privileged beyond measure in serving as your rector, for there is
simply no place like the Church of the Holy Apostles.
May God continue to bless us and keep us.
Amen.
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