St. Charles' Episcopal Church – St. Charles, IL

The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany – Epiphany 6 – Year C

Sunday February 11, 2007 

Jeremiah 17:5-10 -- Psalm 1 -- I Corinthians 15:12-20 -- Luke 6:17-26

Rev. William R. Nesbit, Jr.

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

In the Gospel this morning we heard Luke’s version of the Beatitudes. In these verses we hear the faint echo of Jeremiah – blessed are those that trust in the Lord; cursed are those who trust in mere mortals. Left to our own devices, we generally look at these verses as a pledge that the cosmic books will be balanced ...eventually. That those on top will have their comeuppance and those on the bottom will be rewarded for their noble perseverance in the face of adversity.

Well that sounds all well and good, but it's wrong. The blessing that Jesus speaks of is both present and to come. It is a blessing of joy, happiness, ecstacy and fortune. It is now and forevermore. It is definitely not something we have to wait for or look forward to. And so these verses force us to ask the question, How are the poor, and the hungry blessed now? And more important for us, why are the rich to be grief stricken?

I got a little glimpse of the answer on a week long trip to Appalachia with a youth group a few years back. In Lincoln County, West Virginia there are 4500 full and part-time jobs and over 21,000 people. You can do the math. Driving out of Huntington, West Virginia up into the mountains, one watches the economic level drop off quickly. At a couple of different points along the road we would spot a beautiful rustic style house tucked on a hillside with a large area of forest cleared away out front to make room for a nice lawn and to enhance the view of the surrounding mountains from the large windows. It took very little imagination to picture the large romantic stone fireplaces inside or the large decks out back, complete with hot tub. As I drove into the mountains I thought how nice it would be to have a house like that; a mountain retreat to help maintain spiritual health and well being.

As I arrived in West Hamlin I found a community of a couple hundred people, most of whom lived in the mountains surrounding the town proper. And I found poverty that was shocking beyond comprehension. But I also found a people deeply blessed by God. We had come to paint and repair houses, to give some of our time and money to help a people living on the edge. What we discovered was who it was that really lived on the edge, who really needed the help. I don't have time to tell you all that happened, but I do want to share one story.

In all of Lincoln County there are only 2 paid ministers. I don't know how many churches there are in the whole county, but there are over twenty in the hills around West Hamlin, a town of around 250 people. Generally everyone goes to church on Wednesdays and Sundays. Our group of about sixty young people and chaperones was invited to worship in one of these little churches about twenty miles outside of town one Wednesday. We arrived to find a congregation of about fifty. The minister got up to welcome us and invited us to join them in praise and worship as equal members because God had sent us to them with a special message. As he put it, "If you think that the spirit of the Lord is telling you to stand up and share something with us tonight, well, you mind the Lord." He then went on to tell us the story of how God had chosen us. It started the winter before at a church meeting, where the faithful had gathered because they were concerned that the young people weren't coming to church like they should. They had gathered to discuss and plan ways to bring the youth back to church. It was a hard meeting. They could come to no consensus about what was to be done, and ended up leaving even more frustrated than they had arrived. That night the minister and his wife prayed about their dilemma. Later that night, the minister's wife woke him from a sound sleep to tell him that she had had a dream. The Lord would be sending them fifty young people by summertime. What happened next taught me more about faith in an instant, than I had learned in three years of seminary.(Not as difficult as it sounds actually, But impressive none the less!) At their next meeting, the minister informed the faithful that fifty young people would be arriving by summertime and that we had better be ready. They all immediately set out to prepare for this event. They fixed up more seating, widened the parking lot and did a hundred other little things in preparation for the young people that God was sending them. They did not do one thing to seek out these young people. God was doing the sending, And that was good enough for them. They knew they had only to be ready to receive. As God would have it, the Youthworks! people bought the old funeral home in town and converted it into a dormitory for youth groups that were coming into the area on mission trips. In May, one of these youth groups just happened to be working on the house of one of the parishioners. As is customary in that part of the country, they were invited to church on Wednesday. Just to make sure everything was ok, and that they weren't getting into one of the rattlesnake churches that are common in the area, Youthworks! sent one of their staff along with the youth group. Now wouldn't you know, this staff member was so impressed with their gracious hospitality that he approached the minister and asked if they could make Wednesday worship at this little church a regular part of the mission trip experience for all the groups that would be coming to West Hamlin this summer. The minister asked about how many that would be. I'm sure you already know the answer, but I'll tell you anyway. The staffer replied, "Oh, about fifty people, give or take."

The people of that church treated us truly like messengers from God. And everyone of us knew it. The message we brought to them was that God is still speaking to young people, indeed to all people. Their faith was lifted by the constant stream of young people from all over the country coming to their town and their church to share the love of God. The message they brought to us was that God truly does bless the poor now. Our faith was lifted by the mystery of a people so poor they have nothing but God, but who know to the depth of their being that it is enough. Indeed, more than enough.

I have always loved the image of the community of faith as a tree planted by streams of water, the image we get today in both Jeremiah and the first psalm. As part of our letterhead, we use an undulating line to represent the Fox River that is so much a part of all of St. Charles. But also it represents the living water of God's grace. And it is that river beside which we have planted our tree and from which we take our refreshment. In 2003, we made it part of our mission to grow the church. It is my prayer that we can further come to realize and truly believe that it is actually God who is growing our church, so that we can free ourselves from the burden of growing the church all by ourselves. I have not had a dream, and to the best of my knowledge Beverly hasn't either, but I know in my heart that that is the true way of things. God has already searched out and found the most amazing and wonderful people to come to our church. Many have already arrived. The rest are on their way to us, though even they may not even know it yet! We need only be ready to welcome them. They have important good news for us, as we have for them. We need only be ready to listen and share. They will make us an even better church and we can make them better people. We need only be ready to weave them into the life of the parish. The growth has begun. It is now time to ponder what fruit will come of our growth.

Yesterday the Vestry gathered at its annual retreat. We are very excited about the year ahead. We examined the blossoming ministries in the parish, as well as the buds of potential new ministries. The river of God’s grace has been abundant to us. Woe to us if we do not bear fruit worthy of God’s confidence. Amen.