Holding the big picture

Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

DFMS Noonday Prayer via Zoom

March 2, 2021

Chad of Lichfield

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Our Saint for today is best known for not being the Archbishop of York, or at least that is how is biographical statement begins. Of course, if that were his only claim to fame, it would be a wonder we even know anything about him. I mean in the grand sweep of Church history, there are millions upon millions of us who are “not the Archbishop of York.” The difference for Chad was that he actually had all the qualifications and was elected to serve. But in the face of disputes and controversy he chose to withdraw. He had the grace and humility to know when to step down and to not make it about him. He opted to affirm the unity of the Church over his own self interest or promotion. 

Chad’s course of action is admirable. He saw the bigger picture and did not want the ministry of the Gospel to get subsumed in political controversy. Now, history has decidedly taught us that we should not always follow in Chad’s footsteps. There are many moments in our history when someone could have stopped pushing, stopped agitating, stopped seeking justice in the interest of the “unity of the Church.” No doubt people asked or at least wished that Absalom Jones or Florence Li Tim Oi or the Philadelphia 11 or Barbara Harris would step aside in the interests of unity. Martin Luther King, Jr. had to write the Letter from a Birmingham Jail because white clergy (including our own) asked him to wait. 

There are times when we should be like Chad. And there are times when we need to be like Barbara and Martin. 

But I think it is interesting to note that there is a unifying principle behind the actions of both. It is not about them. All of those faithful servants lived out our Gospel for today, they did not seek their own personal glory first. They saw the bigger picture. They saw their part to play. They saw how their actions whether on the world stage or in a quiet moment could be used to further God’s kingdom. 

Most of us are not likely to have our names remembered centuries later, like Chad or Absalom, but I doubt either of them were even thinking about that when they made their decisions. As our psalm states, one day in the courts of God is better than a thousand in our own room. It is not about us. It is about God. 

Now it could be easy to take the lessons from today as criticism (trust me, I am expert at hearing criticism even when that is not the intention). As admonitions to make us feel small. As admonitions about us being self-centered or egotistical. A particular challenge when our worlds seem to have shrunk to our own living spaces, and we can feel disconnected from community. We could go down the critical route, but I don’t think that is the intention, nor do I think it is helpful. 

Actually, I think there is a real opportunity here for us to find freedom, inspiration and an unburdening. There is an invitation, in the life story of Chad, in our readings, to open wide our hearts and our perspective. It is about remembering that God, the world, the arc of history, are all so much bigger than we might think at this particular moment. That vastness is not about making us feel small in a negative sense, it is about inviting us to remember that we are a part of something much bigger. We all have a role to play. Who we are, what we do, and how we live our lives matters. We might get to see our impact. We might not. But it would be a pretty small view of God to think that our life and ministry in our little corner of the kingdom did not play a vital role in the wider story. 

So, I hope that today you will hear an invitation to let go. An invitation to remember that it is much more about being faithful to God and who God is calling you to be than it is about a particular accolade or outcome. Remember that you are beloved. Who you are matters. What you do matters. Keep your perspective wide. God is at work in the world. Each day there are countless examples of God’s restoring, reconciling love at work in the world, if we keep our eyes and our ears open. We are called to join in that work. Sometimes we do that by stepping aside to let someone else move ahead. Sometimes that means standing firmly planted and speaking our truth until it is heard in the halls of power. Sometimes that means working quietly out of the limelight, trusting that God uses all of us to transform the world. Amen.

Salt, Light, and Gregory the Illuminator

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Rev. Molly F. James, PhD

DFMS Noonday Prayer via Zoom 

Gregory the Illuminator, March 23, 2020

May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. And may that point us to the living Word, who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

“You are the salt of the earth.” “You are the light of the world.” “Let your light shine before others.” Today I am grateful for these familiar lines of Scripture. We need salt and light right now. We need that which gives hope, depth, and richness to life. The fear and uncertainty are swirling. Many of us are in states that are now in a virtual or actual states of lockdown. We can make quick trips out for essential items, but we have basically been asked to stay home. In a matter of a few short days our daily routines, how we do our jobs, how our children go to school, how we get our basic necessities, and possibly even how we understand the world, has changed. Things look so very different than they did. 

And we may know many others for whom the impact of this pandemic is far more immediate and severe - those who are ill, those who are healthcare workers or first responders, those whose dire financial circumstances are represented in the ever increasing numbers at feeding programs and in unemployment claims. So much has changed, is changed, and will change. It is indeed a blessing to be gathering daily with you all for a time of prayer.

I always find the practice of communal worship to be grounding. It reorients me and helps me keep my priorities straight. I find myself in need of that all the more in these days. I need to be reminded to take a deep breath, to let go of my desire for certainty or definitive answers. I need to be reminded that God is here. God is with us. We will indeed get through this, together.

Indeed, the Gospel for today is so apropos. We are the light of the world. The fear and the uncertainty can feel overwhelming. And we cannot let them paralyze us from acting. Nor can we let the fear trick us into thinking we are powerless. Don’t get me wrong, there are moments when this whole thing is like a tsunami and I am just standing on the beach waiting to be caught up in its tumult. But then I pause. I breathe. I pray. I check in with a friend, and I am pulled back to the truths of our faith.

We are salt. We are light. We have power and agency. We can do good works in the midst of all of this. We can keep connecting with each other. In whatever ways are appropriate given our various contexts, we can do what the Church has always done in times like these - we can care for those who are most vulnerable. We can ensure that the light of God shines in the darkness. We can ensure that the flame of hope is never extinguished in our own hearts and homes and in our wider communities as well.

It is important for us to remember that we are not alone in this effort to embody light and hope for the world. We can do it together. We can bolster each other in our faith and in our work. And we can remember that we follow in a long line of saints who have struggled through challenging times, who faced difficulties and yet did not waiver in their faith. Gregory the Illuminator, who we remember today was imprisoned in a well for 13 years because he refused to participate in pagan rituals. Thirteen years! That is a long time. A few weeks or even months largely confined to our homes is not looking so bad after all. In Gregory’s shoes, it could seem easy to give up, and yet he did not. He persevered and was able to share the light of his faith (he is Gregory the Illuminator after all) with people throughout Armenia.

So, my friends, while the challenges before us are real, and they will test our faith and our endurance, they need not leave us disheartened or disillusioned. There is always hope. In the midst of everything, countless acts of kindness and generosity are being done everyday. We are salt. We are light. We are finding more and more ways to stay connected to each other, despite our physical separation. Through our faith, through our actions, through all the good that is being done around the world, there is light in the darkness. And together we can make that light even brighter. AMEN.