• Saturday, February 25th

• 4:00pm

• Reception following

• Freewill offering

I wish I could say, “Follow me,” or “I need you to do something,” and people would drop their nets and do it. Jesus is able to get grown men to drop what they are doing to follow him. Of course, Jesus has the Son of God thing going for him, but the fishermen don’t yet know that – and they know idea what they sign on for, or where Jesus will lead them. Mark’s Jesus commands attention – few words – like President Calvin Coolidge, who once decided to attend church. He gets home and Mrs. Coolidge asks, “What was the sermon about?” “Sin.” “Well, what did the preacher say?” “He’s against it.” That’s like Mark’s Jesus. He invites; they follow – that’s all we need to know.

I doubt the fishermen had heard Jesus’ sermon: “The time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God has come near – repent and believe in the good news.” The Jews long awaited God to come and take real, manly charge of this world. If God is near or will be soon, that’s good news – maybe enough to cause a person to drop everything and follow a stranger.

When I was young the good news I was taught to believe meant a plan to get us to heaven when we die: “You are pretty crummy; repent; be baptized to be saved, and you’ll go to heaven.” That doesn’t hold for me anymore – though I am not opposed to going to heaven. The good news is God comes in Jesus to reign in us. Heaven comes to earth to calibrate heaven’s life with our earth lives. If we accept the good news, then we join God in making earth a place where people have enough, and those with too much share; a reign of love, generosity, respect for all, and no one has to be left out. God’s kingdom is now, here, among us. That’s good news.

Today we celebrate St. Paul’s 173^rd Annual Meeting. We do a lot of things really well – like welcoming people, showing generosity of spirit, active outreach opportunities, wonderful music – and superb potluck meals. As I listen to some your reflections, I wonder how well we connect what happens in here to our daily life in the world. We say God is important – but do distractions and responsibilities keep us from giving time and making room for God and each other in holy and reverent ways? We may know more about the broken hearted women on the “Bachelor,” than friends whose hearts are also broken, sitting on the pews beside us. Do people find God’s good news here? Does God truly reign within and among us? Do we have such relationships among ourselves that we can share our crises, doubts, talk about faith, tell our stories, ask and value questions for which we have no answers, and listen prayerfully to each other? Does God’s kingdom impact our thoughts and values of how we act daily? God’s reign is not just for Sundays. Maybe we can pay create more opportunities to see God at work among us, and share our stories to help each other on this journey of discovery and thanksgiving.

Can we help each other move from a place of holy longings to holy conversations where faith grows? I believe so, and we are. The new Prayer Ministry Team connects people daily in prayers for others. Praying lifts us into God and reminds us God is active in holy care for each other. Foyer Groups bring people closer, over food, laughter and stories shared a holy, sacred presence and relationships deepen. Living Compass is a place for holy conversations. God is present in our listening, sharing struggles and joys, encouraging each other, praying and supporting each other. When we serve a meal to the hungry, participate in a Common Ground project, volunteer at the Thrift Shop, or tutor a child – God is active through our hearts and hands. Some of our members work daily with people whose lives are broken, some unfixable. God is active when we are present, not to fix, but to listen, as the book title says, “Don’t just do something; sit there.” Just showing up for the other, our hearts open to God, can bring God’s love alive. Being a member of the choir, volunteering in the office, I hope we see God is active among us. Maybe we need more opportunities for holy conversations with God and each other.

The reign of God is here. That’s good news that needs to be lived and shared. People may not see it readily, but they’ll know it by our love – for God and for all. The good news is God is present and with us each day. We discover this in individual holy conversations – or prayers and silence with God and in gatherings and ministries we share together in holy conversations, at church – even in homes – with children and youth – spouses, partners, friends. Sounds sort of risky, I know. But then Jesus doesn’t seem to let risk get in his way.

Here’s a prayer is in the spirit of St. Francis I found recently:

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. Amen.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. Amen.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. Amen.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen.[i]

As we pray and live this prayer, and talk with each other about what we see God is up to among us, God’s nearness becomes very good news. Like Jesus says, “Where two or three are gathered together…”  What nets do we need to drop to follow Jesus more fully?

Just after New Year’s Day, I got an e-mail from the Vice President and Tonal Director for the Schantz Organ Company asking me if he could use one of my pictures of the St. Paul organ for promotional material they’re creating for the  AGO’s (American Guild of Organists) 2012 Annual Convention in Nashville. The convention draws organists, organ builders, and church musicians from all around the country for a week’s worth of wonderful and informative workshops and concerts. Of course I told him Schantz could use the picture. The company is mighty proud of this instrument, and well they should be! It’s a beauty!! And it sounds fantastic!! And… organists and musicians from all around the country will get a peek at it this summer when they gather in Nashville for their festivities. I just thought you all would like to know this… Our new organ is becoming quite the celebrity!!

Have you ever walked into a room to realize, “I don’t belong here?” You hope others there would agree. As a hospice chaplain, I had to have certain vaccinations to work with patients. Our agency used a clinic that gave such vaccines, and did drug testing. One morning I walk into the waiting room for a shot. What am I doing here? I sit by a guy wearing a sleeveless T-shirt, arms like an art exhibit, and his bicep declaring his love for his mama. I felt out of place in my ironed polo shirt and khakis. Unlike others, I wore no jewelry in my lips, nose, or eyebrows. When I was called back, I wanted to yell out – “I am here for a vaccination, not the other.”

So today: “Jesus, what are you doing standing in line with those sinners?” Jesus stands waist deep in the river, waiting his turn, repenting of sins for baptism – really? Writer and preacher Barbara Brown Taylor says we could understand why he’s here if he’d pat people on the back to say, “Well done!” – Or if he waits on the shore to hand a towel when someone comes up from the water. If Jesus has no sin, no need to repent, why is getting baptized with sinners? People will think he’s one of them.

Mark doesn’t answer. No one can, really. Mark does tell us what happened when Jesus pops up out of the water. He sees the heavens torn apart, and the Spirit descends into him, doesn’t just land on him (the NRSV misses it). And Jesus hears a voice: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

What does Jesus’ baptism mean? Jesus never says. Mark gives some clues. First the heavens over Jesus don’t open gently like the roof at Miller Park. They tear – rip open violently. Old Testament prophets cry out for God to tear open the heavens, come down here, and start smiting their enemies and the wicked. So when the heavens are torn open, and the Spirit gets into Jesus, heaven finally comes to earth. God comes – not to smite, but to love and call forth what He’s made us to be. For some that will be good news, those who know they need rescue from sin, bad decisions, failures and meanness. God enters this world to bring home those who turn to him, sort of like the father who welcomes his prodigal child back – scot-free. But those standing on the riverbanks watching and grumbling, feeling self-righteous and wondering what this parade of clowns is about miss what God is doing. Jesus won’t be good news for them. They have all the news they want, and besides, they have no reason they think to get in water with sinners. So where are you in this story? Are we more often open, or closed to God? Do we even believe God is with us, and active among us?

And the Spirit – remember how God’s spirit brings order out of chaos in creation. God’s Spirit descends into us at our baptism to create order and purpose from our personal chaos. God’s Spirit gets into us, never to be removed. We are sealed. And as Jesus hears a new name so will we, marked as Christ’s own forever, renamed – “Beloved child of God.” Our purpose now changes from serving self to serving God by loving others.

What does baptism mean for how we live each day? We realize daily we are called to live in the world, but not of the world. We are a people who meet each week for teaching and fellowship, break bread, hold each other and the world in prayer so we can leave here to serve Christ in all persons, love our neighbor as ourselves; strive for justice – work for peace and reconciliation; respect everyone’s dignity whether we agree with them or not. We talk with God about our personal sins and the sins we do together. In just such talks we are forgiven just for asking and God brings us back home. We ask God to open our hearts and pour his love into us so we can pick each other up when we stumble and fall – when we mess up or fail, those who are part of us, and those who could be.

Over years of being invited into people’s lives – hearing stories from people who’ve strayed and ask if God will take them back, I wonder how the gospel gets lost. When the heavens tear open and the Spirit comes down – Jesus’ baptism is a sign he’s with us in the messes – just as he did by getting into the water with all our sins. We get lost or go astray. He always knows where we are. All that’s needed to come is to turn and see who’s alongside us. So don’t ever give up on yourself, or anyone else. And don’t worry if someone will mistake you for a sinner either. All of us are. We look different on the outside, but inside we are alike – all needing the same healing and forgiving love of God.

We renew our baptismal vows today to remember who we are, whose we are, and what God is making of us, lest we forget. God won’t do this alone. He needs our participation in this project to bring others home. I like the way D.T. Niles, a Methodist missionary stated who we are: “A Christian witness is not like a rich person with a lot of bread to hand out to poor beggars who have nothing. Rather we are like one beggar who tells another beggar where we find bread.” That bread is Jesus Christ – and those who feast on God’s love never go hungry and starve. And the real good news – this bread will never run out on us. That’s why I think Jesus doesn’t mind if people think he’s just one of us. He comes to be that, so he could make us more like one of him.

And… click here to hear Carl Rütti’s I Wonder As I Wander, one of the wonderful pieces being performed by the St. Paul Choir with Music Director Timothy Benson and Guest Organist Michael Hey.

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New Year’s Day in the church calendar, formerly called the Feast of the Circumcision, is now known as the Feast of the Holy Name. For many, though, New Years’ Day traditionally is the feast of recovery from New Years’ Eve, also called the Unholy Hangover. Holy Name rests on only five words: “And he was called Jesus.” That’s not a lot to get worked up over for a sermon.

Naming is a big deal in Israel’s history. In Numbers God puts his name on the Israelites and blesses them. They are His people, even when they periodically get sent to time out. In Philippians Paul looks toward the day all heaven and earth will give Jesus the name Lord. In Luke Mary and Joseph comply with Jewish traditions, presenting Jesus at the Temple for circumcision and naming. Giving names in the Bible is important.

Names are important for us as well. Some families and cultures name a child for a family member or special person. Other names describe a quality parents hope to see in their child. My name, “Steven,” means “crown.”  I think my parents thought I talked too much. For me “crown” was a verb: “Be quiet or I’m going to have to crown you,” which means my folks weren’t seeing royal qualities in me.

For centuries Israel anticipated and hoped for God to come as their King and to establish God’s rule over their enemies and all the nations. Jesus declares the Kingdom of God is here and people’s hopes and expectations soar.

Remember Jesus’ birth announcement – words like Savior, Lord and Messiah? That’s good, big news. Over in the tiny Bethlehem, though God’s emperor comes to town. Instead of a palace, God goes to pastures and fields, to the poor and lowly, outcasts – shepherds, not to royalty and agents of human power, to declare good news. What sort of Kingdom is coming in Jesus?

God names him, Jesus, a Hebrew name, which means “He saves.” But this child is not just another “Jesus” in the crowd. God’s Messiah will not turn out to be the messiah his people hope for. They expect a king from David’s royal line who’ll run Rome out of town, overturn evil, right wrongs, and protect them from hard times or sadness. But Jesus saves us God’s way, not ours, and many wanted a different kind of saving.

Jesus saves by healing and restoring people who were religiously and socially denied dignity. Jesus saves by forgiving sins – which is an important form of healing. Forgiveness is for the religious to give to those they think deserve it, meted out from the Temple, not in the words of some poor, itinerant preacher and healer. Plus, Jesus offends the spiritually important. He hangs out with the wrong people. He lifts up the lowly. Those at the top are so invested in themselves, they miss what God is doing. In God’s kingdom, exiles are brought home. Parties are thrown for prostitutes and prodigals. He saves us from living meaningless lives – from self-centered behaviors, and from ever thinking we are in control. Jesus saves us from hating others, from resorting to violence to get our way, from drawing lines to keep others out. Jesus saves us to love God and love one another. And the one thing many Christians get wrong is to think Jesus comes to save us to get us to heaven. Jesus saves this world by bringing heaven to earth – through forgiveness, love, and great parties and feasts, joy and peace.

Just because Jesus announces the kingdom’s come doesn’t automatically make us citizens of God’s reign. We have to practice and work at living in God’s reign. We have to have a passion for God’s reign, and be willing to bring our wills into God’s. In the words of today’s Collect, we ask God to plant the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ, in all hearts. What happens when we leave a plant on its own – unless it’s Creeping Charlie or some other satanic weed that grows with no help, and in spite of Weed-Be-Gone? Watching Tim Benson play the new Schantz organ won’t make us organists. Ask him – he practices – love, dedication and loads of practice. Choosing to live fully in God’s Kingdom transforms our hearts. The kingdom becomes incarnated in our lives and spreads outward into the world. We won’t automatically love our enemies, or pray for those who wish us harm. We’ll still catch ourselves at gossip, and being negative and grateful. Prayer, the sacred reading of scripture, meditation, reading theology, studying the Bible, practicing Ignatian awareness examen daily, these are some of the tools to bring us into union with God’s kingdom, a kingdom at odds with the world’s values.

A lot of people may know the Holy Name, but are yet to live the Holy Life. Life in the kingdom is both – knowing his name and living his life in ours. A student in a religious studies class once observed that it seems that a lot of people confessing Christ as Lord don’t live an alternative lifestyle. Maybe they want Jesus to save them to heaven, but don’t want to live the hard life of being redeemed here and now. God won’t step in and save the world. Instead he brings heaven to earth through the likes of us. Let’s not miss what God is doing in this world among us – it’s wonderful, mysterious, huge, magnificent and so for us, for the sake of how deeply God loves us all. Many good folks in Jesus’ day missed all this – maybe a warning. It’s a kingdom we need to take seriously.

Christmas Eve, December 24, 2011
4:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist with Children’s Pageant
10:30 p.m. Holy Eucharist with special pre-service music beginning at 10:00 p.m.

Christmas Day, December 25, 2011
10:00 a.m. spoken service and Eucharist

It’s finished! In ten working days!
And, as you can see, it’s beautiful.

“Thanks” is just not enough when it comes to my gratitude for Rob Baumgartner and his spectacular crew (I’ll name them all later) for their talent, incredible work ethic, and unfailing good humor. I’m really going to miss having them around here; they’re a great bunch of guys.

What’s left now is the incredibly important work of tonal finishing—giving the organ its voice. {I played it in its present unvoiced state today; really, you wouldn’t want to listen for more than about ten seconds. It’s pretty hilarious…) Note by note, pipe by pipe, rank by rank, each of the thousands of pipes in the organ gets adjusted for quickness of speech, volume, and timbre. It’s painstaking work, and it’s done by the geniuses at Schantz over the next weeks.

I’ve left no commentary for these last photos; I think they speak for themselves.

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We’re almost there.
One, More. Day.

This magnificent instrument does great honor to the craftsmen and artisans who have built it—the terrific folks at the Schantz Organ Company. Love and care are evident in every detail. People come into the church and, even seeing the unfinished organ, are speechless. This is artistry at its best. One hundred years from now, this organ will still stand as a marvelous testament to the skill and artistry of its makers.

Have a peek now at how things are wrapping up!

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