Sermons Preached at Church of the Redeemer
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Lay Sermons Graeme Mills October 19, 2003 My son Ben is at the Atrium school in Watertown.
All kids there are required to take turns making presentations or
doing some form of performance in front of the whole school at their
weekly assemblies. Finally
(while still in Pre-K!), Ben got his chance to get up on stage and use the
microphone. The first words
out of his month were “I just want you to know that I have been waiting
my entire life for this moment”. I thought about this as I was asked to speak this
morning. My initial reaction
was that getting up and speaking in this way is not something I have been
waiting my entire life for! Ben
loves to perform on stage in front of a crowd, but it’s not really my
strength. My wife Debby and our kids Ben, Zach & Sam
started coming to the Redeemer 3 years ago.
Like so many families, we came originally for the church school.
I remember Debby signing up for the Enquirer’s class and being
confirmed, and thinking “Now why would you want to do that!”
I attended church but wasn’t really connected to the church – I
had no real faith. However, halfway through last year I was at a point
where I was searching for more meaning in my life.
I wasn’t happy with my job and didn’t enjoy some of the people
I was working with. I ended
up leaving with a severance package which allowed me with some time for
reflection and to give back to the community.
I joined the Outreach Committee and got involved with the Christmas
Ornament Tree and the spring painting project, both for St. Stephens. In parallel to this outreach involvement, I started
developing a spiritual hunger that was nurtured at Dick’s last
Enquirer’s class. Together
with a good friend, I attended the Alpha Course at a church in Lexington.
Alpha is a 10 week, non-threatening, introduction to the basics of
Christian faith. With these
courses and my friend’s guidance, my faith flourished. I didn’t become a Christian in order to get to
heaven (although I know now that I am going to get there). I am a Christian because there has been irrefutable evidence
to me of God’s presence in my life.
I know that the Holy Spirit is in me and with me every day. I live with an inner peace and joy that I have never had
before. I also have a hunger
to learn more and this led to the small group bible study, [next meeting
October 27]. My spiritual
journey has been a phenomenal experience for me.
I know that God has a purpose and role for me and my family.
In return for his commitment to us, we are striving everyday to
live out a Christian life the best we can. Part of that Christian life is service [reminder
about the St Stephens garden renovation outreach project]. Another part of the Christian life is financially supporting
the church. We will be
increasing our stewardship pledge this year, not because it’s the right
thing to do, not because we need to keep up with inflation, not because we
feel guilty, but because we want to as a sign of our commitment to what
this place means to us. I ask
that when you consider increasing your stewardship pledge that you also do
it for the right reason. So as I reflect on my own spiritual journey and where I have come from, I realize that becoming a Christian has made me a changed person. Other people have noticed the change. This place can really change your life! Like Ben standing before the school in Pre-K, I find myself standing before you, proclaiming my faith. And yes, this really is the moment I have been waiting for my entire life! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * What the Church Means to Me Tish Mead So often I’ve thought if it weren’t for the
church, I would move out of Brookline.
So I ask myself, what is it about this church?
It is an oasis, a place of comfort.
It is comfort I derive from, and tenderness I feel for, so many
familiar faces. My family has been coming to the Redeemer for almost
19 years. I have 4 children,
more often they have been in 4 different schools, but always one church,
the Redeemer. The Redeemer is
a constant in our lives. We’ve
lived through various leaders – each with his or her own strengths and
gifts. We expect so much from
our ministers because they are called by God but they are mere humans
after all – like you and me – trying to do the best they know how.
We have been truly blessed, especially now in this time of change
in both the world and within our own parish. There are so many things I love about this church.
First I love this beautiful place.
I know the building should not matter because it is not the church
– YOU are the church, but nonetheless this actual space does matter to
me. I feel close to God here.
It is comfortable and peaceful. The music is fantastic!
It touches my soul. It
is so varied from traditional to African and all sung or played with such
joy. Seeing the cherub and
children’s choirs makes me smile and cry at the same time.
In a nutshell – inspiring. I love the programs we have. The family pancake supper launches us into Lent.
The Lenten Series is a reflective time to prepare us for Easter. Maundy
Thursday is dramatic and seems so final as the altar closes with a bang in
the dark. It makes Easter so
much more joyous. The Advent
Series puts the Christ in Christmas.
In the chaos of the holiday season, one can find peace and joy and
a purpose to the madness. Various Bible studies have been offered, another way
to expand one’s spiritual journey.
Now there is a book group, starting today as a matter of fact,
discussing Bruce Feiler’s Abraham – yet another stimulating and
mind expanding event. The Christmas Pageant is always a joyful noise.
Over the years, the music and costumes have gotten more creative. The Christmas Market is an amazing community
accomplishment. It requires
tremendous effort on the part of so many but what fun it is to work
together and how fortunate we are to be in a position to do it.
It kicks off the Christmas Season – one just feels the excitement
build as we gather together working on a common goal – smelling and
hearing Christmas, laughing and bidding and supporting outreach.
How lucky we are that by consuming for our pleasure, we help others
to merely exist. The common thread seems to be the camaraderie.
There are so many ways to get together – foyers and the family
series and so many opportunities to serve on the many committees that make
our services, this place and our work possible - all enriched because we
are blessed with at diverse parish. We
are such a wealth of talent. On
the surface we may look sort of the same, but within our church community
we bring together so many different experiences and interests. I love that we can try new things. We are growing, we are not stuck, for example the
contemporary service. Though
the concept was clearly uncomfortable for many, in fact the children were
totally engaged and for the full hour.
As someone said to me, “There was so much love in that room.”
This format is new and of course it doesn’t feel comfortable yet,
but it only occurs once every other month, and if it entices the children,
that is paramount. They are our future in this rapidly changing world and
they are going to need God’s help. The youth groups are one way to engage our children.
It seems so important in our politically correct world that the
kids have a place to come to where it is not only OK to speak the name
Jesus but to celebrate the gift of Jesus Christ. Another opportunity for our children is Sunday
school. It is a busy place!
I love teaching Sunday school!
What a blessing your precious children are.
They arrive, sometimes tired, but mostly full of beans, curiosity
and thought provoking questions. I
learn so much from preparing for my classes and in exploring answers to
their questions. They are exciting, energetic, and fun, and I feel privileged
to be growing in my spiritual journey with them. This year in Sunday school, we are focusing on
God’s covenants with us through Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus and what
the scriptures reveal about God’s character.
We learn from the Noah story that God promises to never send a
flood again. He gave us
this beautiful creation and the privilege and responsibility of being
stewards of it. All of us are in different places in our journey and we are all trying to live Christian lives. Our world is a troubling and chaotic place. The Redeemer is a place we can all listen to God and try to make some sense of it. We are so fortunate that we are allowed to worship and that we have this very special place, the Church of the Redeemer, to grow together. God has blessed us indeed. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * Sustaining and Being Sustained
Philip E. Burnham, Jr.
As you may know, at Easter,
the Church offers the lilies from the altar to parishioners after the
services. In 2002, when my wife Louise, could not come to church
because she was dying of cancer, I took some lilies home to her.
After they bloomed, they were planted in the garden to bloom again.
The following is a poem I wrote about them: Backyard Lilies From Easter Sunday when you could not come To church, we brought the whitest lilies home To you, still full of blossoms and perfume, Heaven's counterfeit, so the house, the room Might be a gate, a path, a book, a text You took, you read from this house to the next As one by one the trumpets faded, closed Soft as tissues, fell, leaving stems exposed, To be set out of doors, planted anew Beside the ferns, the stairs, where summer grew Over them, too bright, too dry for nearly all The garden, yet as it edged toward Fall White trumpets reappeared without you there To see, to smell, to touch, to know, to bear With us our witness to the gracious sign That resurrection stood in God's design. Philip E. Burnham, Jr. September 2002The poem is from a collection entitled Sailing from Boston, Poems of Loss and Remembrance, Ibbetson Street Press, 2003.In the ancient Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh, the hero suffers an irreversible loss. As a hero he has overcome many obstacles, challenge to his authority, a monster named Humbaba, the devastation of his world by plague. But when his dearest friend and companion, Enkidu, dies, he is helpless and inconsolable. In his grief Gilgamesh decides to search for a plant which will provide him with everlasting life. His journey to see the only person who is immortal, Utnapishtim, requires him to pass through Mashu, the mountains of darkness. Gilgamesh is sustained on his journey by his own courage and his desire to find everlasting life. Each of us has to, or will, cross, our own mountains of darkness in the lives we lead or toward the places, unknown, where we are going. In my own life, the mountains of darkness are both recent and still a shadow presence. The loss of one's life companion is beyond comprehension. But there are places and persons to whom one can turn for sustenance and consolation, for guidance and renewal. The Church of the Redeemer was such a place of sustenance for me. As a physical space of refuge, its quiet beauty speaks out in so many ways to our need for peace and reassurance that God shares this space with us. Who will sustain God's House? The clergy of the church were such people for me as they prayed with us, counseled us, ministered to us and brought us through death's gate into a heavenly place. Who will sustain the clergy in God's House? The liturgy of the church, especially that of the healing service, initiated by Dick Downes, for those who were ill and for those who were affected by their illness, sustained, and continues to sustain, all who come to participate. Who will sustain the liturgy of God's House? And there were those among the congregation who walked there beside me to offer their own God-sent sympathy of sustenance. Who will sustain the congregation of God's House? As each of us enters the mountains of darkness, will we be able to say that in our turn we understand that the Church is there because we have had the courage to sustain the church in smaller ways than it will sustain us with its space, its clergy, its liturgy and its congregation, and with the ultimate promise of everlasting life? Who will sustain the Church?
Will you? Will I? |
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