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Celebration of New Ministry
of The Rev. Keith Roderick
Rector, St. Andrew’s, Carbondale

given September 13, 2009
Being the Eve of the Holy Cross
Sermon preached by The Very Rev. Richard Swan

“Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.” In the Name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, Amen. P. b. s.

What a great day! What a celebration! There is a new beginning here this day for St. Andrew’s. I am not going to ask for a showing of hands, or any “Amens”! But maybe there are some present who wondered if, and when, this day would finally come? This past year has definitely been one of trial and challenge for the lay leadership of St Andrew’s, but we see throughout Holy Scripture, and in Joshua (today especially) that this is nothing new for people of faith and God has promised faithfulness to those who persevere, as Kenneth read earlier, “I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” As Christians we sometimes need to remind ourselves of God’s promise, and be reminded of His faithfulness; so that we can, in turn, encourage others with the knowledge that we serve a loving, merciful, and faithful God. Our God can help us through any difficulty if we will walk in the Light, as today’s Gospel so clearly exhorts us.

We have a challenging message for a new start within the Church Body!! “While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.” The modern idea of what a Church is, in the commercial oriented “Church Shopping” mode, is that it is a building where people go, to “GET” something… To get a “FIX” of Spirituality for the week, to get a “Self-Help” mind set to make it profitably through the storm of these times, to get a morality based program for exposing our children to a positive influence in this confusing society… There is nothing empirically wrong with these things, but we must remember that first and foremost the Church is its members and that we are called to come together and Worship our Lord and learn from His Word and to be strengthened by the Sacraments so that we can be a source of light for those around us, so that we can model a Godly life and “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another;” It is by doing just that that others will take notice and begin to say, “I want what she has” or “I want what he has” and then you can invite them to simply come and find out here, in this Holy Place.

Jesus promised this earlier in John’s Gospel when he said “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me…” In John 7:38 our Lord said “…let the one who believes in me drink. As the Scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” Rivers!! We certainly know about rivers here in Southern Illinois. Our Lord is referring to the Prophet Isaiah who promised that believers would “draw water from the wells of salvation” ( Isaiah 12:3) to the Prophets Ezekiel and Joel who described the river flowing from the temple of God ( Ezekiel 47:1ff & Joel 3:18) . Just as Paul has (in today’s reading) described us as the Body of Christ, members one of another, he has told us that we are the Temple of the Lord (1 Corinthians 3:16, & 6:19) . So it should not surprise us about rivers of Living Water flowing from each of us…just as light seems to flow from its source. What is to flow? Nothing less than the Love of Christ. He has told us that His desire is “that you love one another as I have loved you” so “that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” The love of Christ is an irresistible force, like a mighty river.

Few here know that one of my favorite recreational activities in the past has been Whitewater Rafting, or canoeing. I love to climb into a canoe or a small rubber raft with six to eight other fools and then embark on a trip down a frequently unforgiving fast moving volume of water. When you do this you recognize some universal facts about rivers. Rivers seek the lower level, when they come upon an obstacle, they slow down, they may seem to stop and gain in depth, at some point, however, they break through and rush forth with even more force. In the midst of the apparent fury of the water, there are frequently calm eddies of rest and even peace.

Our human nature tells us that we are in “trouble” if we meet an obstacle, if something gets in our way, but if we are a source of living water for those around us we can demonstrate the overcoming power of God’s love to find the way around the obstacle, or over the obstacle if need be. As children of Light we can take the knowledge of modern lasers and even end up persevering through an apparent obstacle in the calm assurance that God is with us. That is what has happened here in the past year! God clearly wants this part of the Body of Christ to prosper!

Of course with great things come great expectations. There is a built in impatience in our human nature after waiting for so long to be able to move forward. We must remember in the coming months that the team building is first before the game can commence. This is a good time to remember that being a Christian is not a spectator sport! That might be one reason that the so-called Mega Churches are popular, most people want just to watch, not get involved. This leads to another thing that comes with an end to a period of trial; and that is the possible reaction of, “okay my work is done, I can relax now” There is sometimes a feeling that all will “change” now that we have chosen an enthusiastic and energetic Priest to move to town and take care of business. We must remember that the Clergy are called to teach and to lead, rather than to “do it all”. During the past several months I have been privileged to be preparing some individuals for the sacrament of Confirmation. It is good to sometimes turn back to the Catechism and recall some of the basic teaching of our Church, who are the ministers of the Church? The ministers of the Church are the lay persons, the Bishops, Priests and Deacons. (BCP p. 855) . Notice the order presented, Yes we are a catholic Church with Holy Orders, but the vast numbers, at this, and most gatherings are the laity who are called to “bear witness to Christ wherever they may be and to carry on Christ’s work of reconciliation in the world.”

Remember how I said that the water of a flowing river seeks to fill the lowest level? That is a reminder that the work that we have to do as a Church, as the body of Christ, is to go down and to shine Christ’s light into the darkness so that we can draw more to a knowledge and love of God. We may well enjoy the high places, our own mountain tops, but we are called to flow down to do the work that He has given us to do. We are His body here and now, he said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself”. As His Children of Light we lift up our hands in this holy place so that we can draw all to Him. We give thanks to God for calling a faithful shepherd to lead this flock. We rejoice and praise God together for the opportunities ahead. Let us stay grounded in the Word of God, let us persevere in prayer for His guidance and wisdom that the needs of the Saints may be met and that strangers will be welcomed in hospitality, for the glory of God and for the building up of His Kingdom.

Now unto God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit be all Worship, Praise, power and Dominion, now and forever. Amen.

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