1/26/14 The Rev. Gayle Nauska St. Christopher’s - Anchorage 3rd Sunday after Epiphany (Yr.A) Conflict in the Church Matthew 4:12-23 Isaiah 9:1-4 Psalm 27:1,5-13 I Corinthians 1:10-18 Opening Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable to you, O Lord; our rock and our redeemer. Introduction: I believe the readings for today are very appropriate for this Sunday when we have our Annual Meeting. In the lesson from Isaiah, there are the beautiful verses about LIGHT; in addition, the lesson from the gospel reading for today quotes those same verses from Isaiah on LIGHT. Those verses are also in the aria in Handel’s Messiah - ‘The People That Walked In Darkness’. It is so uplifting, especially this time of year to hear “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them light has shined...For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.” In Psalm 27:1, the theme of light continues: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” There is so much hope to hear about the LIGHT that God brings into people’s lives. However, you will notice that in the Isaiah passage, it refers to people - as in plural, instead of person - single. The passage from I Corinthians, Paul is addressing divisions in the church in Corinth. Conflict and quarrels have been in the church since the very beginning. A congregation or synagogue that does not have conflict is dead. As long as a congregation or synagogue has people in it, there will be conflict. Conflict is not the problem; the main issue is how conflict is managed. Paul expressed that there should be no divisions among them; but they were to be united in the same mind and purpose. Diversity is different than divisions. We are to be united in Christ, even if we express our devotion to Christ differently. A number of years ago, I was at the Diocesan convention - I think it was in Sitka. There was talk about dividing the diocese into two separate dioceses so that we would not wear out our Bishop so much with all the traveling. Many people spoke to that issue, and made it real clear that they were not willing for the diocese to be divided geographically. People emphasized that the diversity in our diocese is a huge blessing, and they did not want to lose that. I grow spiritually the most when I interact with other people who also love God, but believe and/or express that belief differently from me. I believe that is one of the strengths of this congregation - is the diversity represented here. That is also why I like to use different liturgies, because then I see God in different ways. Diversity is also one of things I loved about being in the Native Ministry Program at Vancouver School of Theology. We started each day with a communion service, and various groups took turns leading worship. I became very comfortable with smudging as part of the liturgy, and experienced the power of drums in worship. I especially loved when we prayed the Lord’s Prayer because each prayed in their own indigenous language. Bishop Rustin Kimsey and The Ven. Norman Elliott are a good example of unity in purpose, but disagreeing on various issues. Bishop Kimsey was our interim bishop after Bishop McDonald resigned. He said at one of the conventions that he and Father Elliott disagree on many things theologically; however, they share a love for God and for the Episcopal Church. As a result, they are really good friends. Father Elliott and I disagree on women’s ordination; and yet he is very respectful toward me as a colleague. Early in my ministry at Christ Church, when I was the clergy-in-charge, but still a deacon; Elna Barrington died at the hospital. Elna and her husband, Bill were some of the founding members. I went to the hospital, and so did Father Elliott. He had copies of the service to use at the time of death, so handed me the copies as well as the chaplain’s stole to wear, and had me lead the prayers since I was the pastor of the congregation. We shared the same mind and purpose. When working with couples in counseling, it is important to establish from the very beginning that the ground rules include treating each other with respect. That means refraining from name calling and attempts at intimidation. Threats of violence are not tolerated. Couples counseling is not done if there is domestic violence because often the victim of the domestic violence will fare worse because they have been vulnerable during couples counseling. Dorothy Thomas is quoted as saying; “Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it.” I believe one of the best tools for managing conflict is the Serenity Prayer; although I admit that sometimes I don’t remember to use the Serenity Prayer until after I have given myself a headache by banging my head against a wall. I believe the Serenity Prayer is one of the most powerful prayers there is. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference. Amen. In today’s gospel, Jesus called the disciples who were ordinary people, who were doing ordinary things in their life, and he called them to do extraordinary things. Sometimes Jesus calls us to ordained ministry, and sometimes he calls us to ministry in our secular job, or in family relationships or volunteer work in the community. One is not better than the other, they are just different functions. One of the sayings I like about ministry is that “Jesus did not call the equipped; he equips the called.” Every single one of you are ministers. Some of you know what your ministry is, and some have not discovered it yet. All of us can worship God by ourselves; however, God uses community to help form us, and to help us grow in maturity as Christians. Relationships are tough. Through relationships we often discover parts of ourselves that we don’t like seeing. We are also given the opportunity to develop patience as we are reminded that we cannot control others, but can only influence them. Here at St. Christopher’s we have the opportunity to be able to worship God together, but to also grow in maturity through our relationships with each other. Collect For the Mission of the Church: Everliving God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, p.816)
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 02:14:42 +0000