The Rev. Charleston Wilson
In the Name of the Living God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
We love to celebrate milestones and special occasions, don’t we?
And indeed milestones are all around us. I was brought to tears two weeks ago when we sang happy birthday at the eleven o’clock mass to the oldest member of the parish, Dora Riverol, who had turned 106 (that’s one, zero, six) that very morning. What an accomplishment! Just three days ago, on Thursday, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, also known as The Queen, turned ninety years old. That, too, is a milestone, especially since she is also now the longest reigning monarch in history. God Save The Queen!
Closer to home – but no less royal, I assure you – last Sunday we celebrated Father Fred’s 22nd year as our Rector. And we are all still remembering fondly last month’s parish-wide celebration in thanksgiving for Fr. Rick’s 20th anniversary of ministry at Redeemer. And so it goes: we celebrate anniversaries, graduations, and major achievements. We burn mortgages, blow out candles and bless babies. And it’s all great fun to boot!
But none of this milestone merrymaking, if you will, could take place without some thoughtful and careful planning. Events don’t simply happen – they have to be meticulously planned in order to be successful.
I think it’s fair, at this point, simply to point out that we willingly – and even rightly – spend lots of time planning, celebrating and commemorating the things we prize and value the most, don’t we?
For example, to celebrate really special occasions in our household, I love to travel, and I even like spending lots of time planning even the most minute details.
As a side note, Malacy has threatened to stop travelling with me, because I spend more time planning all the details of the trip than the time we actually spend on the trip.
Nevertheless, my points are simple so far: life is full of many milestone moments, they are times of great merrymaking, and they require quite of bit of planning and forethought.
But (and here comes some substance) while I love – even adore – all the high points, I have just recently discovered that most often I find myself trudging through the valley way more often than I find myself perched at the peak.
But let me be clear. What I’m not saying is that I’m exceptionally gloomy today, or depressed – and I’ve certainly never been called a party pooper by anyone who really knows me.
Rather, I’m just thinking now about the opposite side of the same coin we all call life.
“A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance,” as the author of Ecclesiastes puts it.
Recently, a friend of mine, who is well acquainted with that “weeping” and “mourning” bit, called me and shared with me yet another calamity in a long line of unfair and unfortunate calamities. I could tell he was crying, and right in the middle of it, he said, “Oh well, I guess I just need to get over it.”
I hated to interrupt, but I said: “Get over it: what are you talking about, ‘get over it’? If Jesus still bears the marks of the nails in his hands, and LIVES, why should it be any different for you?”
Only the Holy Spirit could have given me those words at that very moment.
What I was suggesting is what Nouwen suggests in his great little book, The Wounded Healer:
A Christian community is therefore a healing community, not because wounds are cured and pains are alleviated, but because wounds and pains become openings or occasions for a new vision.
And what is that “new” vision, Mr. Preacher?
Hear again the vision of St. John the Divine:
I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”
And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.”
Brothers and sisters in Christ, if you are a follower of The Way of Jesus, this – this – is your vision and this is your eternal destiny! No tears, no death, no pain, no crying.
Now, that’s a vision!
With that in mind, in this season of Resurrection, I think Christians need to reclaim St. John’s vision of triumph, and lose a little of the despair that I see creeping in like an unwanted weed in a rose garden.
And for the record, according the Oxford English Dictionary, despair is “a complete loss and absence of hope.”
Now, don’t misunderstand me. Suffering is one thing, and it’s actually not optional; despair, however, is right out of the pit of hell, and it is optional.
Suffering, of course, isn’t an option, because we are followers of Christ. That means just as we have to follow Him up to the great milestone moments of triumph and joy – up to the peaks of the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James and John and to the wedding feast at Cana – so we have to follow him down into the valley of the shadow of death – into the Garden of Gethsemane. Then we follow Him along the Via Dolorosa, the way of the cross. Yes, we follow Him – we follow Him even unto death.
“But lo! There breaks a yet more glorious day; the Saints triumphant RISE in bright array; the King of glory passes on his way. Alleluia, Alleluia!
And that, my friends, will be the milestone of all milestones, the celebration of all celebrations!
And since every good milestone or celebration requires a lot of planning, why don’t we start planning actually by experiencing a little of that vision today?
“And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped.”
Sermon preached by the Rev. Charleston David Wilson
The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
5th Sunday of Easter
24 April 2016