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Sermons & Writings |
Loree Penner
Saint James, Monkton
May 20, 2007
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While I was in seminary, I took a position as a choir director at a Methodist Church down the mountain. It was a good-sized church choir - about 25 people, and half of them men. As Henry can tell you, having an equal number of men and women in a choir is a rare thing. So, the wheels in my mind started turning and I thought up all kinds of things this choir could sing. - That is, until I had the first rehearsal with them. That's when I discovered that it was going to be a very long year Throughout that year, no matter how long I rehearsed the different parts, no matter how many notes we pounded out for them on the piano, or how many sectional rehearsals we had, in the end they sang only one thing: - they sang the melody, and they sang it gustily. I even tried putting the melody in the bass part, with the sopranos singing harmony. That didn't work either. . and most of the time, this four-part choir sang in unison, and the rich texture of the harmony was lost. Today we celebrate the ascension of Christ - after 40 days of post resurrection appearances, Jesus gathered with his disciples, And after giving closing instruction to them, he ascended into heaven. Next week, we celebrate Pentecost, the 50th day in which the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples - today's reading is the end of Jesus' Prayer for his disciples before he was crucified - a prayer for one-ness with Christ, and one-ness with one another. Jesus desired his disciples to come to complete unity, to bind into a group that understood what it meant To know Christ, and to make him known. Jesus knew that without unity of purpose, the church would descend into a cacophony of disagreement, Each side claiming to be the authentic work of the Spirit. But unity is not uniformity - the Apostle Paul explained that brilliantly in his metaphor of the Body of Christ. - I may be a hand, you may be an arm - all parts are needed for this Body, this community to function fully. Can you imagine what would happen if we were all alike? Madeleine L'Engle's explored the theme of uniformity in her book, A Wrinkle in Time. There, she created a world in which people did exactly the same thing at exactly the same time o - children bounced balls on their identical driveways in exactly the same rhythm. o People walked at exactly the same pace. o Everyone was controlled by one great Brain that had no wish for individuality amongst its subjects. But God is not some great Brain that desires us to be all alike. In fact, it is in the composite of all humanity that we can find the image of God - you and I are pieces of the puzzle. Each of us has characteristics and abilities that set us apart from our neighbor. It is the function of the community to bring those characteristics together to form a diverse, texturized, yet harmonious whole. We are, in essence, polyphony at its best - - music sung in many parts, harmonizing to make one magnificent whole. And in this texturized unity we have the opportunity to help each other know how our individual gifts enhance the community. Just as a choir director auditions a person to help them discover whether they should sing soprano or alto, So do we assist one another in finding our place of ministry. - our calling, if you will. Calling comes in many forms - not only to service in the church, but also to our particular vocations and avocations. All forms of call require discernment - a word we use often at St. James. Two weeks ago at Convention we received the Bishop's Award for Outstanding Congregation - and part of the reason was that we are a church that practices discernment. The word comes from discernare, meaning to separate or distinguish, to determine and sort out. Discernment is, for you who are Harry Potter fans, the Sorting Hat of the church - It is prayerful decision making in the midst of community, an intentional attempt to hear God's call in our life. It takes time and effort - it is often inconvenient, and sometimes what we discern surprises us. Part of this work is to listen to the many voices that speak to us: - we hear from those around us opinions of what they think we might or might not be good at. We have desires within ourselves, and its important to listen to that inner voice as part of the process. Those who are our mentors or leaders may have different ideas about our abilities based on their experience of working with us; and in the midst of these voices, there is the voice of God calling us. In discernment, we attempt by grace to hear what God is saying through both interior and exterior voices. This requires living and working in community, And it is a continual challenge to listen as a whole body, rather than to make decisions based on our own preferences. Discernment is ongoing. After Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples entered into discernment, to discover who among the many who followed Christ should become the 12th disciple, taking Judas Iscariot's place. In the life of the wider church the Anglican Communion continues to struggle through a painful process to understand the intersection of sexuality and theology. Discernment continues in our diocese as we seek for a new bishop. It continues in this parish in many forms, one of which is through a discernment group working to hear God's voice regarding the future of Youth ministry at St. James. And always, we as individuals are in the process of discernment to hear God's call above the din of the surrounding culture, and above our own desires. But we don't do it alone. We do it in chorus with others. All parts singing the grand song of the Holy Spirit, working together to create a cosmic oratorio. With one heart and one purpose - to know Christ, and to make him known. |
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