what is your name?

Sermon preached Sunday, June 23rd, 2013

St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church

The Reverend Will Scott

Luke 8:26-39

from Teddy's Johnson's Lame Goat

Imagine this person struggling with internal arguments, over powered by strange forces far beyond his or anybody else’s control, compelled to live in the midst of tombs, surrounded by death, alienated from family and friends. Imagine what people said about him, how they described this naked tormented character, living in a graveyard. Oh the stories that must have been shared among passersby. Look out for that weird guy. Imagine his family and friends, how they too must have struggled to know what to do about their antisocial relative, the guilt they must have felt for not being able to help him, for attempting to forget him. Perhaps he had once been popular, had served a purpose, perhaps he had been a soldier in the Roman Army, until some aspect of being part of an imperial occupying force broke him --- perhaps he is suffering from some kind of PTSD? The demons that possess him call themselves legion after all, there was even one army that had a boar on its standard. Perhaps that’s why they wanted to go into the swine.

This story, like so many in scripture, raises more questions than answers. Thankfully Jesus was not intimidated by the challenge that stood before him as he stepped out of that boat on the shore. Jesus after all has already cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene, raised a dead man, and just finished calming a storm that scared the heck out of experienced fisherman. If this were Man of Steel you might miss this next special effect as you blink inside your 3d glasses. But keep your eyes open. Watch what this super therapist, hero can do. Jesus has an affinity for outcasts and before uttering a single word is already attempting to extract the demons from this beleaguered man. Perhaps the most important sentence in the passage comes next, Jesus asks the man “What is your name?” but it’s the demons that respond. Their eagerness for attention is the hook that Jesus grabs hold of --- and instead of wrestling them to the ground, Jesus gives the demons what they want. Jesus gives the demons permission to enter the swine, and off they go into the lake. The swine herders, who have just inexplicably lost their livelihood by the way, run off to tell someone somewhere what just happened. When the townspeople follow them back to Jesus, the man is clothed and sitting at Jesus feet like many San Franciscans might wait on a yoga mat for class to begin, or patiently wait in line for a pastry at The Mill, ice cream at Bi-Rite, a performance at the African American Arts & Culture Complex or a coffee at Matching Half – the guy has gone from drunken Bay 2 Breakers runner to the epitome of civilized and sober in a matter of seconds. Of course the crowd is freaked out by Jesus, the text says they were seized with great fear, perhaps they were concerned that if this liberator/exorcist hung around too much longer, swine herders wouldn’t be the only ones out of a job. The freed man begs Jesus that he might be with him --- perhaps he wants to become a follower --- that would probably have been easier than doing what Jesus asks which is that he go home and tell folks the good that God had done for him. One wonders what kind of home the man might have to return to, and whether folks would be willing and able to welcome him with open arms. 

So here we are, St. Cyprian’s, here we are neighbors, friends and family, here we are Bishop Marc, Canon Stefani, here we are together. Are we possessed people making a home in a graveyard, casualties of imperialism run amok? Are we awestruck fisherfolk followers of the action hero Jesus hanging back to see what happens next? Are we swine herders wondering what we did wrong to have our livelihood lost in an epic battle? Are we town gossips coming to catch the latest titillating tale only to be seized by immobilizing fear?

I hope we are people curious about Jesus --- but wary of religions and politics that contribute to the marginalization of any person, possessed or liberated. I hope we are people that dig below the surface, that like Jesus are working our miracle before words come out of our mouths, I hope we ask one another regularly and deeply “what is your name?” whether at church or Lucky's, Bi-Rite or the Panhandle Park, Alamo Square or Divisadero Street, an SF Live Arts concert, or Free Community Dinner. “What is your name?” I hope we freely let go of our possessions for the liberation of others --- I hope we are people that beg to be with Jesus, that let our hearts’ desires be heard and acknowledged and yet are also courageous enough to look our oppressors, haters, and doubters in the eye and tell them what hope, healing, and freedom look like.

Our name, our identities are not the demons that have possessed us. We are not the failures and disappointments, the wounds of abuse or the casualties of a long forgotten war. Our home is not a graveyard. Jesus who looks each of us in the eye and asks us our name, knows who we really are, even when the demons speak louder than our true voice, Jesus loves us and liberates each and every one of us from all that oppresses, intimidates or possesses --- giving us dignity and new life.

There is a poem that an artist, Teddy Johnson, introduced to me long ago.  Teddy’s sister Jenny Johnson is an old high school friend of mine from Frederick County, Virginia. Jenny used to teach at Mission High School next to Dolores Park and is a friend of your daughter Pilar, Bishop Marc, I think they worked at the UVA young writers summer program many years ago.

This poem has come to my mind many times during my four years at St. Cyprian’s, especially in light of today’s gospel. The poem itself is by Rumi and is called The Lame Goat.

You have seen a herd of goats

going down to the water.

The lame and dreamy goat

brings up the rear.

There are worried faces about that one,

but now they're laughing,

because look, as they return,

that one is leading.

There are many different ways of knowing.

The lame goat's kind is a branch

that traces back to the roots of presence.

Learn from the lame goat,

and lead the herd home.

Thank you St. Cyprian’s for teaching me some of the many ways of knowing --- keep dreaming and may you lead all of us home.

the Sinners sermon

Sermon preached Sunday, June 16
St. Cyprian's
The Reverend Will Scott
Luke 7:36 - 8:3
 
What is this about? Who is this about? These are pretty simple questions to ask about today’s gospel lesson. The answers are not that simple. Let’s start with the second question. Who is this about? For starters the woman with the tears and the alabaster jar of ointment is not Mary Magdalene, though don’t feel bad if that’s what you thought because you aren’t the only one, sadly countless numbers of church people for centuries since Pope Gregory have taught that mistaken notion as fact. Mary Magdalene’s got her own story which is well worth contemplating, but this story isn’t about Mary Magdalene. If you want to explore the significance of Mary Magdalene’s story, gossip surrounding her and what it says about the church’s long held sexism --- you need start nowhere closer or better than the San Francisco Opera. So this “sinful woman” is not Mary Magdalene even though Mary is mentioned later in this passage as a demon-liberated woman underwriting or bankrolling the Jesus’ movement. 

This story is also not about Mary of Bethany, either, that’s Lazarus’ sister --- but in John’s gospel there’s a story about Mary of Bethany involving Jesus feet, her hair and some expensive perfume. Confused? That’s okay. 

So we are in the Gospel According to St. Luke, who notes more often than the other canonical gospel writers the essential role of women in Jesus’ life and work. For example it is in Luke that we get the story of Jesus’ old pregnant aunt Elizabeth and his teen mother embracing and singing subversive songs to one another. The author of Luke is also said to have written Acts of the Apostles where we meet such prominent women of the Way as Lydia, Tabitha, and Phoebe. Most scholars believe that the early church was remarkably hospitable to women in leadership until this got in the way of the Church’s pursuit of power and respectability in the Roman Empire.

But we still haven’t answered the question: who is this about? We don’t have a name for this “woman of the city, who was a sinner.” We don’t know if we see her again after she leaves Simon the Pharisees house. This woman whose faith saves her, is clouded in mystery. For many reasons when folks read “woman of the city, who was a sinner” they read “prostitute.” That may or may not be the supposed sin this woman is well known for.

We also don’t know that much about Simon the Pharisee. Some people think he’s the same as Simon the Leper but if there can be so many different Marys in scripture, why can’t there be a few Simons too? I think in order to understand this guy, the host in today’s gospel, we should pay attention to how Luke describes him a number of times which is as a Pharisee. Pharisees were a sect within Judaism that emphasized the “set apart” nature of God’s people.  They were serious about the interpretation of scripture and how this translated into their personal and communal daily life and practices. Some scholars actually think Jesus himself and his followers were Pharisees.  Whether that’s true or not, we know Jesus is often in conversation with Pharisees, and usually challenges anyone who is overly self-confident about their relationship with God including and especially Pharisees. Jesus’ peculiarly charged relationship with Pharisees is likely what contributed to the second definition for Pharisee you can read in the dictionary, “a self-righteous person, a hypocrite.” Simon seems to be one of those Pharisees, a person who is walking around with an air of superiority, the first words out of his mouth reveal his attitude: “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of a woman this is who is touching him --- that she is a sinner.” This Pharisee seems to be the kind of gossip that Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Teddy Roosevelt’s only daughter would enjoy spending time with who said, “If you can't say something good about someone, sit right here by me.”

I think it is important to keep the word sinner in parentheses, in a place of question, in suspended judgment.  I think that’s what Jesus wants us to do…perhaps sinner is not really supposed to be a category of person, perhaps what Jesus would have us believe is that whatever category we may belong to, whether we are a woman of the city or a Pharisee or a child of a former president, we are capable of committing sins --- and most importantly capable of being loved, forgiven and reconciled with the Divine and each other. None of us needs to be relegated immutably to the category of sinner. None of us is a Sinner, with a capital S.  We are human beings who sin and are loved, forgiven and reconciled.

So who is this about? This is about all of us. And what is this about? About God’s extravagant embrace of humanity --- absolutely completely and totally.

I can hear the questions and the murmuring…but what about people that do wrong? What about those who are well known to be Sinners with a capital S, gang leaders, drug dealers, pimps, and prostitutes --- war mongers, murderers, greedy bankers, gamblers, terrorists, abusers, racists, sexists, and homophobes. Isn’t religion supposed to defend us against them sinners, to sort the good from the bad? What’s the point of religion if I can’t judge a few folks and find a way to keep myself clean from impurity and sin? 

WWJD? What would Jesus do? What does Jesus do in today’s gospel, he shares a parable he says…

“Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “Speak.” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” 

As Dear Abby said so many years ago, “a church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.” So if you are going to have a category called sinner then it is probably best to include yourself in it. So today’s gospel proclamation, as it always is, is that God loves us, God forgives us, God challenges us to love ourselves, & to love others not a little but a lot.

What would it mean for St. Cyprian’s to really take these words of Jesus to heart? What if this community became known far and wide as a place that really and truly loved each and every person that walked through our doors? I don’t mean just tolerated or liked, I mean love. What would it look like for this church to really deeply embrace not just the good parts about each other, but even the tough, hard, and painful spots? What if this church expressed that love and care, that attention and respect to those who take the Bible seriously our world’s contemporary Pharisees, and those who are well known sinners? 

What if St. Cyprian’s, like Jesus, helped those who sit in judgment of others, be liberated from the demons of their own inflated egos and helped them see themselves and others as part of one human family, worthy of love, care, affection and forgiveness? What would that look like? What new folks would be welcomed into the midst of this space?

What if a big part of the history of St. Cyprian’s is one that is exactly about this very matter, what if at the heart of what people have been singing and praying about for over 90 years is about God’s great love for each and every one --- especially the most lost, mistreated, oppressed, misunderstood, abused and broken among us? What if our role is and has always been to be a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.

raising the dead

Sermon preached Sunday, June 9th 2013

by the Reverend Will Scott, Vicar

1 Kings 17:17-24
Psalm 146
Galatians 1:11-24
Luke 7:11-17

Raising the Dead. What action could be more inspiring, captivating, enthralling, what action could cause more people to talk, and become interested in the work of a prophet in any generation than that? Elijah raises the dead son of a widow in the first lesson, and Jesus hundreds of years later, raises the dead son of another widow. Today, anytime a new product, technology, diet, minister or exercise program offers to extend our lives or keep us from dying you know you are going to hear about it –- and you are also likely to be very suspicious. My hunch is that people in Elijah and Jesus’ day too were astonished to hear such news, doubtful and hopeful all at the same time.

The interesting thing about both stories is that they reveal how these prophets of God are moved by the particular stories and experiences of individual people. There were many other poor widows whose children died in the days of Elijah and of Jesus. There are many poor widows whose children are dying in their arms today throughout the world. No Elijah or Jesus will come to their doors and work a miracle. Some will be lucky if a doctor or nurse is available to ease the suffering. These particular, individual stories of resurrection whether they literally took place or not, are symbolic of God’s compassionate care for those on the margins. These particular, individual stories are about God’s power over death and poverty. We do not worship and serve a God that is impersonal or cold that does not grieve and suffer with us when we are in pain, or our children are sick. The God of Elijah and the God of Jesus yearns to be on the side of humanity. Even when we are not the receivers of a specific miracle, Jesus’ teachings and actions tell us that we can trust that God desires human flourishing, God longs for all of us to thrive --- disease, death, and poverty in the end are nothing compared to God’s will for health, life and abundance. This means that our work as followers of Jesus is never complete. We are called to be miracle workers, to be life givers, to be healers and prophets of God’s hope for the world. Who knows how we may be called to be raisers of the dead? But I think one thing is clear from the two resurrections we read about today --- both widows desperately needed their sons to be raised for their own lives to continue. In biblical times especially, widows were extremely vulnerable --- they could not own property, they could easily be taken advantage of, in a patriarchal society they needed male protectors.  The stories of resurrection today are linked by this desperation, the dead being raised may be more about those who witness and receive blessings and salvation from it, than the dead person themselves. Each woman is relieved, and can once again rely on the care and attention of these resurrected sons. These resurrected bodies have work to do. 

Not long ago an article was circulated called “Autopsy of a Deceased Church.” While it was written by Thom Rainer, a Southern Baptist minister, his thoughts spoke to me of my faith that God is raising St.Cyprian’s and perhaps other churches in our neighborhood like New Liberation from the brink of death. Here’s this minister’s autopsy report, which was about a real church somewhere in the U.S. that closed in early 2013, and you can quickly see how we at St. Cyprian's have been addressing these potential problems head on:

1.                  The church refused to look like the community. The community began a transition toward a lower socioeconomic class thirty years ago, but the church members had no desire to reach the new residents. The congregation thus became an island of middle-class members in a sea of lower-class residents.

St. Cyprian’s is beginning to look more and more like the community outside our doors. Most of those who have begun attending our church whether Spirit Village or the 10:10 come from the immediate neighborhood community.

2.                  The church had no community-focused ministries.  This part of the autopsy may seem to be stating the obvious, but I wanted to be certain. My friend affirmed my suspicions. There was no attempt to reach the community.

Everything we are doing with Cyprian’s Center & St. Cyprian’s Community Kitchen is an attempt to reach the community outside our doors, and it is working. 70 mostly young people from the neighborhood were at Thursday night’s dinner. Each month 50 seniors attend lunch downstairs. This summer with The Village Project & Shakespeare Camp we will be host to numerous children, youth and their families will be interacting with our space and our members.

3.                  Members became more focused on memorials. Do not hear my statement as a criticism of memorials. Indeed, I recently funded a memorial in memory of my late grandson. The memorials at the church were chairs, tables, rooms, and other places where a neat plaque could be placed. The point is that the memorials became an obsession at the church. More and more emphasis was placed on the past.

While we mourn those who die, we visit those who are dying and we care for those who are in grief St. Cyprian’s has not made that our sole work and identity these past four years. We are a church for the living. The dead don’t need a church --- those who are struggling to get by in this life do. St. Cyprian’s knows this, and we are living that way.

4.                  The percentage of the budget for members’ needs kept increasing. At the church’s death, the percentage was over 98 percent.

My hunch is that our budget is actually primarily directed toward mission and outreach, even when we are fundraising to fix our building, we do so knowing this will assist us in our neighborhood and community work.

5.                  There were no evangelistic emphases. When a church loses its passion to reach the lost, the congregation begins to die.

In the last four years we have attended numerous neighborhood block parties, meetings and hosted events and activities that help us get to know those around us, those who are most likely to eventually show up for a church service. Whether they are lost or not --- they are finding us and we are finding them. We also know who they are, we know their faces and names. If these secular neighbors are going to go to church anywhere aren’t they most likely to attend a church that knows and cares for them as they are and isn’t trying to fix, condemn or change them. If they wake up on Sunday morning with an itch to attend a worship service, aren’t they more likely to go to the one that is striving the hardest to be a good neighbor?

6.                  The members had more and more arguments about what they wanted. As the church continued to decline toward death, the inward focus of the members turned caustic. Arguments were more frequent; business meetings became more acrimonious.

We have some work to do on that front.  Arguments and debates about direction and focus are common in any organization or family that is working hard toward ambitious goals. But let’s always remember that even when there is disagreement or confusion our primary call is to love one another. If a church can do that, if St. Cyprian’s is able to treat each other well, respect one another in spite and sometimes because of our differences that will be a profound and inspiring witness to others. That’s the kind of church people want to go to, not a church that denies disagreement, or makes everyone conform --- but a church that actually loves one another even when there is tension and conflict. Also, try to keep this quote by former Archbishop of Canterbury in mind, “the church is the only organization that primarily exists for people that are not members”

7.                  With few exceptions, pastoral tenure grew shorter and shorter. The church had seven pastors in its final ten years. The last three pastors were bi-vocational. All of the seven pastors left discouraged.

I am not leaving discouraged but hopeful. While my tenure was four years, that’s actually longer than the interim clergy at St. James, Sei Ko Kai, and Trinity each of whom were originally appointed about the same time that I was. St. Cyprian’s will want to think long and hard as will the Bishop about what type of minister you have going forward --- but I would encourage this congregation to continue to keep the idea of a full time dedicated clergy person in your vision for yourselves in the future. Keep working towards that hope. Because you need full time dedicated leadership, you and this wider community deserve that kind of attention and care.

8.                  The church rarely prayed together. In its last eight years, the only time of corporate prayer was a three-minute period in the Sunday worship service. Prayers were always limited to members, their friends and families, and their physical needs.

I think we have done a good job of praying before every meeting. But I encourage St. Cyprian’s going forward to pray specifically for the ministries we are involved in and connected with, for the Village Project, the Community Kitchen, our neighborhood and space use partners. 

9.                  The church had no clarity as to why it existed. There was no vision, no mission, and no purpose.

St. Cyprian’s has clarity; we have vision, mission and purpose. If you aren’t sure what it is, you haven’t been paying attention.

10.             The members idolized another era. All of the active members were over the age of 67 the last six years of the church. And they all remembered fondly, to the point of idolatry, was the era of the 1970s. They saw their future to be returning to the past.

I believe St. Cyprian’s best days are not behind you, they are ahead of us. The past can teach us much but our future cannot be found there. Keep dreaming, keep connecting and reaching out, keep getting to know strangers, and love the young folks that are all around you, students, neighbors, seminarians, and children at Spirit Village.

11.             The facilities continued to deteriorate. It wasn’t really a financial issue. Instead, the members failed to see the continuous deterioration of the church building. Simple stated, they no longer had “outsider eyes.”

We have spent over $100,000 in four years on this building. There is still lots more to do, the floor that is cracking beneath us needs to be addressed, the kitchen will be completed. There’s lots of ways this facility could look better and serve the community more readily, don’t put blinders on, look around and notice what needs to be done, and rally folks to address it. Don’t panic, but don’t sit back and expect this facility to care for itself.

If St. Cyprian’s or any neighborhood urban church’s that yearn for resurrection want to see such a miracle take shape they will need to acknowledge that they exist for the service and care of others. Just as in today’s stories those young men being raised were going to be put to work to protect and care for their mothers ---- if St. Cyprian’s or New Liberation or Solid Rock Missionary Baptist, or AME Zion are going to be raised from the dead --- I believe they must have a relationship with the vulnerable, weak and needy folks all around them. There’s no point in a resurrected church if that church isn’t about the care and love for everyone, especially those who are in desperate places.

Let us pray for the church.

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP 280).

"One Of Those Mothers"

Check out Susanna's sermon from last Sunday. The Reverend Dr. Susanna Singer is a volunteer associated clergy person at St. Cyprian's & professor at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific

Sunday, March 3rd 2013

Isaiah 55: 1-9, Psalm 63: 1-8, Luke 13: 1-9

When my son Ben was a little boy, I was One Of Those Mothers about food.

I tried to make sure that everything he ate was healthy, good for him, and preferably home made.

It helped that my husband and I have always liked cooking, that this was the way our family had always eaten anyway, and that we couldn’t afford to eat out, hardly at all, but I must admit that sometimes I got a bit obsessive about it!

So it was quite a day when we were out shopping with another mother and her son from his preschool class, and we happened to end up in a burger joint at lunchtime for the first time in Ben’s life.

I tried to act blasé about it, and ordered something very plain and simple for him – how different could a basic commercial burger be from what I made him at home, for goodness sakes?! – and I waited.

So he took the first bite, looked at me in a puzzled kind of way, and then said in a clear and carrying three-year-old voice, “Mummy, this isn’t food!”

Of course I wanted to slither under the table and disappear, and I did my best to explain and excuse myself to the other mother, trying not to look too much like One Of Those Mothers … but a small part of me was actually quite proud of my kid.

Because it’s a good thing to know what is real food and what is not.

The prophet Isaiah would certainly agree.

In today’s reading he makes God sound like One Of Those Mothers, giving us a good scolding.

“Why are you wasting your money and your sweat on food that doesn’t feed you?” God asks.  “You know the difference, and so do I.  I’m standing here, ready to fill you up with rich food, with a feast.  What are you waiting for? Come and get some of the good stuff free of charge!”

Such a deal!

And then we read on, and we discover a very strange thing.

Being fed by God with the food we need, with real food, will change us.

Being fed with the mercy and forgiveness of God will mean that we will become people who turn away from wickedness, people who repent – which means, literally, getting whole new mind, a whole new way of living.

Eating life-giving divine food will make us into people who are alive!

It puts a whole new spin on the old saying, you are what you eat.

The Gospel gives us another vivid image of the tending and transformation that will happen to us if we let God lay hands on us – only this time God is The Expert Gardener.

We will be like the fig tree in Jesus’ parable – even when we’re not bearing fruit, we won’t be dismissed as barren failures, we’ll get another chance, and our merciful, gardener God will dig around out hard soil, loosen us up, shovel on the life-giving manure, and generously, hopefully wait for that care and feeding to make us into living trees, producing a great crop of figs.

This kind of divine care and feeding, and the human transformation it brings about, these things are what the season of Lent is all about.

Lent is the time when we take a hard look at ourselves, and let God take a hard look at us, to see if we are alive and well-nourished and bearing fruit.

We do this, not expecting to be punished, but knowing that we will be fed, and that as we let God feed us, we will begin to learn the difference between food that is real food, and food that is not.

We do this, not fearing that God will cut us down, but knowing that God will loosen up the hard, caked places in us, feed us with a feast of mercy and forgiveness, help us turn over our lives and dig into some new ways of thinking and some new ways of being, so that we can be transformed, and then bear good fruit.

We will learn the ways of living, the habits of behavior, the ways of being in relationship, that will feed us and make us flourish, and we will start to turn away from the spiritual junk food that leaves us hungry and thirsty and barren. 

Maybe this Lent God will help us learn patience, with ourselves and other people.

Or maybe a diet of discernment is what is called for – deliberate, prayerful thinking-through of some major issue in our life.

Perhaps God is standing by with a tempting dish of playfulness and rest, so that we can learn the power of taking Sabbath time.

Or maybe we are being challenged to let God the gardener break through the hard crust of indifference in us, and lead us out towards our neighbors in need.

The spiritual food and the spiritual care that God has in store for us this Lent will be different for each of us, but we can be sure that God, like One Of Those Mothers, like The Expert Gardener, has a plan for our health and well-being.

This is what can and will happen to us individually, if we let it, and the same kind of things can also happen to us as a community – as the people of God here at St Cyprian’s.

The message of the prophet Isaiah and the parable of Jesus that we have heard today are things we have been actually living out in this congregation.

God has come to St Cyprian’s like The Expert Gardener comes to a fig tree that is struggling, and God has dug around our roots and fed and watered us so that we can come alive and bear fruit.

It’s not an accident, I think, that the new face we show to our neighborhood has green sidewalk gardens;  it’s not an accident that some of our newest friends in the community are students of ecology.

God has come to St Cyprian’s like One Of Those Mothers, worried about our hunger and thirst, concerned that we are just getting by, and offered us a feast of good food so we can come alive and be witnesses to new hope, and share the feast with others.

It’s not an accident, I think, that so much of the new life in this community happens around tables of food – sandwiches, and lunches for elders, and concert refreshments, and foraged dinners, and after-school snacks.

It’s not an accident that part of our stepping out in hope means that we know we absolutely have to make a new kitchen.

St Cyprian’s has always been a great food place, and now the feast is overflowing into the world.

Because we let God feed us, every week here at this table, with God’s very self, we are becoming people who feed others.

Because we know God’s renewing care and grace among us, we are becoming a community of renewal in our neighborhood.

We know what real, life-giving spiritual food is, and we know what real, life-giving divine care is.

We receive these things from God’s own hand, and they transform us into people who are truly alive, people who bear fruit, people who hold out our hands to the world in the same way that God does, overflowing with good things, without money and without price.