Sermon Proper 5 B

Here is something I wrote back in 1994 that includes some reflections on martyrdom. Who would have thought then that 20 years later the news would include information about people killed just because they are Christians.

Proper 5 - Year B

June 5, 1994

Sermon Given at St. Alban’s, Brentwood

By Rev. Valerie Ann Hart

During the past several weeks I have received in the mail two letters asking that vicars and rectors set aside this Sunday for a special purpose. The first was from the bishop of our diocese concerning the Episcopal Charities Appeal and the second was from the Ugandan AIDS project, asking that we remember the Ugandan Martyrs who appear on our calendar on June 3rd. I said something about the Episcopal Charities appeal in my newsletter and I will say more about it later, but first I’d like to talk somewhat about the Ugandan Martyrs. If you are like I was before I started Seminary, you probably never heard of the Ugandan Martyrs. Rather than try and describe them myself, I would like to read you the letter describing the background on the Ugandan Martyrs that I received

(Here I read from the letter which I no longer have)

It is hard for us who live in the United States, a country that has had total religious freedom for more than 200 years, to really comprehend martyrdom. It is hard for us who have never had to chose between life and our belief in Christ to realize that people have been systematically killed because of the belief in Christ not just centuries ago, but in 1977. It is hard for us who come to church on Sunday mornings when it is convenient, when we are not too tired, when there is nothing else we need to do on Sunday to imagine what it was like for Christians who lived under communism to meet in secret and risk losing everything in order to go to receive the Eucharist. It is hard for us who live such secular lives to realize that a religion could be that important in a person’s life.

What is it that would bring someone to a willingness to give their lives for Christ? It is not out of duty, or ought, (the primary motivators in much of American religion) but rather a response - a response to the love of God demonstrated through Jesus Christ. It is a response to the freedom we have been given through Christ’s sacrifice, the freedom from bondage to sin and guilt. The Old Testament reading today concerning Adam and Eve’s refusal to accept responsibility for their actions and the subsequent separation from God was wiped out by Christ’s loving sacrifice. All need to feel guilty and separated from God was wiped clean by the inconceivable love shown by Christ. Christ knows us, sees us, sees through us, sees all the little fears and guilts and mistakes…and…he loves us. To paraphrase Mr. Rogers, “he loves us just the way we are.” And that love transforms us, and helps us to become the people God intends for us to be.

To be willing to die for someone who gives us ourselves is not so surprising. To be willing to give up all for the one who is the source of all the we are, all that we have, is not so surprising When we realize how much we are loved, when we realize that all we have, all we are, is a loving gift from God, when we know that we belong to Christ, then we must respond.

In the Gospel reading today Jesus says:

And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Those who just say that they are related to Christ, are not acknowledged, only those who “do the will of God.” When we know that we are Christ’s, that each breath is a gift, that all we have is a gift, that every penny that passes through our hands is a gift, that the beauty of the sky and the trees are gifts, that our very lives are gifts from a loving sacrificing God, how can we not respond? How can we not try to do the will of God?

The Episcopal Charities are one way in which the will of God is done in our name by the Episcopal Diocese of California. There are people out there ministering to the homeless, the elderly, the lonely, those addicted to drugs and alcohol, mothers who are struggling to raise children alone, people dying, people diagnosed with AIDSS. These people who are doing the will of God in our name thorough these Episcopal Charities ask for our support, especially our financial support. By giving to the Episcopal Charities Appeal we do the will of God by financially supporting those who are doing the will of God throughout the diocese.

We as a church, as the St. Alban’s community, are also called to do the will of God. When you financially support the church you help this entity to do the will of God. Now we do not have enough money even to balance a very limited budget. How can we together do what our church is called by God to do in the community of Brentwood without consistent financial support?

And we are called to do the will of God as individuals. To strive to do the will of God in our work environments, to strive to do the will of God in our families, and to strive to do the will of God during our leisure time.

All that we have, all of our time, all of our talents are gifts from God and we are called to be stewards of these gifts and to in all ways and at all times consider whether our choices are consistent with the will of God. When we do this, when we feel our actions are consistent with the will of God, we experience a deep inner satisfaction and we know that we are indeed Christ’s sisters and brothers.