To be charitable, one could say that the thin, longhaired and full bearded wedding guest was dressed for a walk in the woods. The wedding to which he was going was in a small town on the edge of a great wilderness. The wedding was not in a cathedral, or even a church, the minister was standing at the far end of a doublewide trailer.

The casually attired wedding guest sauntered through the aluminum door and there she was- not the bride, but still the center of his attention- resplendent and fascinating, as though she were on stage and lit by some invisible follow-spot that only he could see. She was a stranger whom he knew instantly. This was his soul mate… although he would not have used those words then. He was 19, far from home, and suddenly, without warning, deeply in love.

Life was simple then. They had very few responsibilities and even fewer assets. You could have put everything they owned in the back of a pick-up truck. And they did… eventually driving across the country to a place they did not know in search of a new life in a promised land.

Half a world away from where they began, and some years later they held their firstborn child. Now they lived in a rental house on the edge of a manicured estate. He held one job and started a business at night. She nurtured their young family. Both endeavors grew in size and complexity. He bought several good suits and a power tie. They bought their own house and moved across town. He hired more employees, as the part-time business became a more than fulltime endeavor. She managed a household that seemed to be filling with toys and little socks and picture books on every flat surface. She tried to keep up with a child who seemed to have the energy of a small army and little need to sleep. It would takes years of parental direction, guidance, frustration and love to raise this child into a man - but in time they would see the fruits of their labors in the ever better choices of their child as he grew in wisdom and understanding. The young father dashed around the county managing the work of 25 people in several different cities. But he managed to be at home the night their second child came, and life changed dramatically, again.

Fast forward through the next couple of decades and one can see the business take on a life of its own, moving from uncertain infancy to mature and increasing independence. Their children did the same thing. He sold the business, seeking more profitable ventures, and in spite of the ever-increasing household expenses caused by teenage appetites, they decided not to sell the children. Both the husband and the wife found their work changing over the years- as parents and as workers. Sometimes their labors centered in the home, sometimes in the various businesses they owned over the years, sometimes in the employ of others, sometimes as one of thousands of workers in a corporate setting. They lived in various parts of the country. They, and their children, moved on to different schools, advancing through higher levels of education.

Their financial resource went up and down, but in the aggregate there was always more to manage as time went by. The needs of their family changed too.

Where once they sought the cheapest source for disposable diapers, now they shopped for colleges. Once they thought mostly about the freedom offered by a Friday night, now they budgeted and saved with an eye on retirement and an awareness that considered decades rather than days. One they had been a couple sitting pretty in a pick-up truck now they were twice as many people - a whole family - the truck had been replaced with several cars all in the driveway at once, and they had all the cares that any homeowner has.

Their lives had become much more complicated, sometimes harried, still full of love, and there was no way that everything they owned would fit in a pick-up truck. See how their life is just like the experience Moses is having? Just like what we have experienced since 1750 at St. James? No? Let me explain…

In the wilderness it is just one thing after another for Moses and the Israelites. When there is no food the people complain to Moses- "this isn't how it used to be!" When there is food, the people complain - "this isn't how we remember it!"

Even as manna falls from heaven and water springs forth from the rocks, the people kvetch and bellyache because change is always psychologically difficult. And the more people that are involved, the more psychic and spiritual energy it takes to keep moving forward. Whether it is the terrain between childhood and adolescence or the desert between Egypt and the Promised Land, or the differences wrought by changes in the size of a parish, transitions are hard and they are harder for one person to manage as the size of the group that is traveling grows. Ask any parent of an expanding family, or any priest with a growing parish, or Moses who is shaking his head and asking God to "just kill me now!" Parents- you know how just how Moses feels, don't you? I know I do.

But let's look at what happens next in the desert. God responds, not by airlifting everybody to Egypt and turning back the clock, but by showing Moses and the Israelites a new way forward.

"Of course, you can't do all of this by yourself," God says. "Oy veh, Moses, what, you think you are God?" "Get some help. There's more people to lead, so raise up some leaders- its what I do, and it works."

It's a good day with clear reception so Moses listens. He seeks out 70 "elders" in the camp. Now we have to understand that the term "elders" does not simply mean people advanced in age, it means people whose wisdom has grown over time and is recognized by the community. Think of the discernment process we use to raise up new vestry members, it's the same intent. We ask you, "who has the wisdom, the faithful presence, the obvious love for God and the group on their mind and heart?"

Wisdom, faith and love are needed to help people adapt as they grow and things change. As the Israelites moved through time they built a temple instead of worshiping in a tent. And being rooted in Jerusalem was quite a change from a forty-year nomadic existence in the desert.

Now there was a whole new level of things to manage and administer, and through it all the population keep growing like a family adding generations, assets and responsibilities. Different stages of growth require us to adopt different structures, discover different ways of leading, to be open to different ways of worship and to understand that change is unavoidable- except in one thing.

The center, the foundation, the reason for it all remains the same. Jesus summarized it this way, "love God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself- on this hang all the Law and the Prophets."

We are at the beginning of a new program year. We have been traveling, and growing since 1750. There are now over 1300 people who think they are members of Saint James. They laughed when I expressed it that way in the parish library last week but let me elucidate. Look around you, there are clearly not 1300 people in these pews. Not all of us come every Sunday. But anyone who has been baptized, confirmed or received here is a member of this part of the body of Christ. Some of us may only come twice- once to be baptized and once to be buried. But any of these 1300 people feel free, and they should, to call the clergy and ask for a pastoral appointment, to request that their child be baptized in the church, to ask us that we bury their loved ones and offer Eucharist and the hope of the Resurrection to them and their family.

Beyond our 1300 members is a world aching for Good News. We have a charge, from Christ himself, to reach out and touch them too. And finally there is our Academy, our largest ministry endeavor. The Diocese recognizes us as a resource sized parish because of the numbers of people who attend one of our 5 worship services here each week, request pastoral contacts, and otherwise consider St. James their spiritual home. This includes those who are not yet members, may not have yet entered our doors, but are almost here - having been attracted by the Hunt, the music program, the art shows, the Center for Spiritual Development, our web site, our e-classes or any of the other doorways we have built to encourage strangers to become guests, and guests to become disciples.

We are in the business of proclaiming the love of God in word and sacrament. We are a large church so we have, and we need, way more than 70 people engaged in ministry leadership roles. It takes more resources than we can fit in the back of a pick-up and we don't want to sell any of the children even in a tight time. When we read in the letter of James - Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. - know that we are doing all these things faithfully because we have prepared people, places and things to carry out these functions.

We have, like Moses, and like parents of growing families, recognized that our tribe has grown, that our needs have expanded, and that different times call for different responses. It is more complex, and more expensive, than it used to be- but the reason, the mandate is the same- let us love God, here and now, let us love our neighbors, here and now. This is what we have been given. This is who we are now. Let us thank God and keep going.

And just as both Moses and Jesus experienced and taught- sometimes a new thing will pop up like a flower we did not plant, resplendent and fascinating, lit by some invisible but perceivable follow-spot calling us into something we had never even considered before. Let us look for that light that bids us to fall in love and engage in an adventure of growth and grace and wonder, with thanksgiving.

Let us rise up and be leaders, if that is our call. Let us be Eldad and Medad out in the camp, if the spirit moves us. Let us be that nameless person who is willing to do deeds of power in the name of Christ. But above all let us believe that it is God who has brought us safe this far and God who will sees us through as we mature and life changes and God's love remains the solid rock on which we stand. AMEN